A fascinating story in support of unionized labor came out of Hazelton, Missouri this week. It is a story that flips the conventional wisdom regarding the need for Right-to-Work laws on its conservative head. On July 27, a two-year-old British automotive start-up, Emerald Automotive, announced that they have selected Hazelton as the site for a new American manufacturing facility. According to Sharon Heaton, Emerald's general counsel, the decision to select Hazelton was premised upon the company's conclusion that "Missouri is such a great partner for us, especially for the strength of its workforce."
Earlier this year, Missouri beat back what seems to be a perennial attempt to implement a union-busting Right-to-Work law in the state.
To be sure, Emerald looked at locations in 25 states, Heaton said. It chose the St. Louis area because of its central location, its pool of experienced autoworkers and "an incredibly business-like" approach by state and local governments.
"They were very much about, 'How do we make this happen?'" she said.
Now, this would seem to fly in the face of the arguments that have been bandied about in favor of a right-to-work law in Missouri. State Senator Robert Mayer (R) probably summed up those arguments best when he said:
Currently, Missouri is missing out on new jobs because companies are drawn to other states with better worker protection laws. Fifty percent of manufacturers refuse to consider Missouri as a place to locate new jobs because we have no protections against forced unionization of our workers."
It appears someone forgot to tell that to Emerald Automotive because they have indicated that they fully intend to partner with the skilled craft professionals of the St. Louis area Building Trades Unions for all of the construction and renovation associated with the project.
In fact, Jeff Aboussie, Secretary-Treasurer of the St. Louis Building Trades Council, told me on July 28 that this deal came about because of good, old-fashioned cooperation and partnership among business, government and labor. For the past several months, the Building Trades unions have been working in close cooperation with local government officials and business and financial communities to come together with a solid plan that would enable Emerald Automotive to succeed in Hazelton. Aboussie enlisted the involvement and assistance of U.S. Representative JoAnn Emerson (R) and Senator Roy Blount (R) to help make this deal happen. In the end, it was a triumph of reasoned thinking and cooperative spirit over the decaying political doctrines of the past that are selfishly centered upon an "us vs. them" mentality that works to no good benefit for our nation or our communities.
The Hazelton story lies in stark contrast to another recent example of a foreign auto manufacturer coming to the United States and seeking "refuge" in a Right-to-Work state. When Volkswagen (VW) went looking for a location for its first American manufacturing facility, it eventually selected the Enterprise South Industrial Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee because of the unprecedented package of incentives they were able to wrangle from state and local government officials. In all, VW extracted upwards of $600 million in Tennessee taxpayer money and resources to come to Chattanooga. That was approximately $200 million more than any foreign transplant had ever received.
The Building Trades Unions at both the local and national level approached VW about the possibility of entering into a partnership to construct their facility. The trades were summarily rebuffed, even though VW works very closely with unions in Germany. Apparently, they left their spirit of union cooperation at the customs counter.
Now, we'll have to hold our breath and hope Chattanoogans, having already coughed up enough public resources to start two plant, witness the kind of on time and on budget results that union-built auto plants -- like the 20+ Toyota has built stateside -- have delivered in the past.