Nissan workers at Tennessee plant reject union campaign

Workers at a Nissan auto assembly facility in Tennessee have overwhelmingly rejected a campaign to unionize the plant, despite a high-profile effort from labor organizers to gain support from employees.

Employees at the Smyrna, TN facility cast ballots in the election, which was held under the auspices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The results, announced late Friday night, showed that workers had voted overwhelmingly against the unionization effort, with 2,244 voting against it, and just 1,307 in favor.

The unionization campaign had been led by the United Automobile Workers union, supported by an array of civil rights and labor groups, who had argued that the plant’s workers were not adequately protected by their current working conditions.

The UAW had previously mounted a similar effort at the same plant in 1989, which also failed. However, this campaign had gained the support of several prominent civil rights leaders, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, who had made a number of visits to the plant to campaign on behalf of the union.

Nissan had been staunchly opposed to the unionization effort, and had launched an aggressive campaign to convince workers to reject it. The company argued that it had always treated its workers fairly, and had done its best to address any issues that had been raised. It had also argued that the presence of a union at the plant would ultimately be detrimental to the success of the facility.

The NLRB had conducted an investigation into Nissan’s actions during the campaign, which had included allegations that workers had been intimidated into not voting in favor of the union. However, the board ultimately found no evidence to support the allegation.

The unionization effort’s outcome is likely to be seen as a major setback for the UAW, which had hoped that a victory at the Nissan plant would help to reverse a long-term decline in union membership in the United States.

The results of the election also come at a time of growing tension between labor groups and the Trump administration, which has taken a number of steps to limit the power of unions.

For now, however, the Nissan workers in Tennessee have spoken, and their message is clear: they do not want to be represented by a union.

The NLRB has certified the results of the election, meaning that the unionization effort is now officially over.