Volkswagen and Labor Might Start a Revolution in Dixie

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- As a union-side lawyer, I know manywrite off the labor movement as lost. But maybe globalizationwill save us. Consider how the United Auto Workers has come soclose to organizing the Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga,Tennessee. The UAW may not win immediately, yet something earth-shaking has already happened: a U.S. union opting to push aGerman company to bring its own model over here.

If that transplant works, then globalization really mightsave the U.S. labor movement. As pointed out by HarvardUniversity’s Richard Freeman, a leading labor economist, theworkplace in countries such as Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands,Austria, and especially that uber-competitor, Germany, hasremained relatively egalitarian. Just count the spread of“works councils” in most of these countries, where workerslook through company books and influence decisions.