Union effort intensifies at Nissan; Bernie Sanders joins fight

Discord at Mississippi's Nissan plant seems to be escalating with more than a little help from a high-powered, Detroit-based union, all while the auto manufacturer continues to receive labor complaints and safety violations regarding the facility.

The involvement of French leaders, as well as a former Democratic presidential candidate, is only raising the stakes of a possible vote on whether to unionize at the plant.

"They think they can beat you guys up," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is seen saying in a video in response to concerns some Canton Nissan workers shared during a Feb. 16 meeting in Washington, D.C. "What you're doing is courageous. It is enormously important. It impacts not only workers in that Nissan plant. If you win (a union vote), I think it's going to be a spark probably all over the state, maybe all over the South, maybe all over the country."

One of Nissan's first Canton employees, Chip Wells, told Sanders the harassment he received in response to taking his pro-union views public was so extreme — he described being targeted for unreasonable discipline — the stress caused him to take medical leave. When his physician cleared him, though, Nissan wouldn't let him return, he said. Wells' story is just one of many that some employees say illustrates a culture of distrust at Nissan, where supporters of unionizing efforts say workers have little voice and little of their superiors' respect.

Wells ultimately filed an unfair labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, and Nissan settled in 2014.

Of course, Nissan also has supporters in its Canton workforce. Helelaine Osbourne, who's worked at Nissan 14 years in pre-delivery, said it's supporters of the United Auto Workers union, not Nissan, who is intimidating workers. She said her supervisors are responsive to any concerns, and she doesn't feel the need for additional representation.

"I'm already treated very well, so, really and truly, I can’t see (UAW) offering me anything," Osbourne said. "The union don't care for us. They're just looking for people to line their pockets."

No company is perfect, Osbourne said, but "I find it a privilege and an honor to work there."

Nissan maintains the workers who want to unionize represent only a fraction of its employees and that allegations of poor treatment are unfounded. As far as Wells' complaint, "filing charges with the NLRB is a common tactic in an organizing campaign," said a Nissan statement.

Sanders will travel to Canton for the March 4 "March on Mississippi" along with NAACP President Cornell Brooks and actor Danny Glover, who's already been in Mississippi throughout February speaking at related events. Their goal is to raise awareness about alleged intimidation tactics at the Canton plant, which has never held a formal vote to unionize.

This is the latest effort in years of attempts by some Nissan employees and the United Auto Workers union to use collective bargaining at the plant that opened in 2003. The UAW's messaging in Mississippi appears to extend from a national campaign and, Nissan says, is less about actual worker concerns and more about applying consistent pressure to the company as part of a wider agenda.

"I really don't think this is coming from the Nissan plant as much as it is outside influences," said Duane O'Neill, president and CEO of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership. "If there's ever a vote, I guess we'll know."

But UAW didn't just show up here; workers reached out for help, union officials contest.

"It wasn't like the UAW drew a map of all the transnationals and circled Canton," said UAW Treasurer Gary Casteel, who also calls the Canton plant the "poster child of worker oppression."

While organizers focus on giving Canton a spotlight, a Republican-controlled Congress is considering a national right-to-work law that aims to make every state more like Mississippi, where unions wield little power and workers have fewer options to fight unfair workplace practices. Hesitation over the new federal administration's stance on labor likely contributes to UAW's recent momentum. A right-to-work law prohibits mandatory union membership while allowing employees who are not dues-paying members to receive the benefits the union provides.

The Nissan Canton plant has added 1,500 jobs since 2013, employing a total of 6,400. It says it pays employees significantly higher hourly wages than the average central Mississippi production wage of $16.70 an hour. Nissan would not provide a specific pay scale for workers at the Canton plant.

O'Neil says Nissan's presence in Mississippi also helps attract other major manufacturers who might be deciding to locate here, such as Continental Tire, which is being built in Hinds County.

Feds: Nissan not hazard free

Nissan has received six OSHA violations in the last five years. In December 2015, the NLRB found Nissan and Kelly Services, the temp agency Nissan uses for contract labor, had violated workers rights when a supervisor threatened employees with termination for supporting unionization. Nissan said it is continuing to defend against the allegations in this complaint.

More serious are three recent safety violations issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that show Nissan "did not furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees."

In December, a machine lacking warning signals started unexpectedly, causing a Nissan employee to catch his hand in a conveyor belt. The incident came with a $8,465 fine in February. It was one of two OSHA fines last year. A $12,675 fine also came down this month and was related to Nissan inadequately training employees on "safe application, usage and removal of energy control devices." Negotiations to reduce these fines, which is common, are ongoing.

A Nissan fact sheet says the company spent $6 million in safety measures in 2016.

"In fact, Nissan's Canton plant has a safety record that is significantly better than the national average for automotive plant," said a written statement from the company. "Nissan is still evaluating the findings, and we will continue to work with OSHA through their established process to bring closure to these matters. We also continue to work on determining what can be done to prevent future occurrences."

Nissan bases its safety record on the plant's lost-time rates for injuries compared to the national average. "We have consistently been about 50 percent better than the average," Nissan said in the statement.

But the OSHA report said Nissan did not complete a log of all work-related injuries and illnesses in the detail required by federal regulations.

Working on the railroad

Nissan worker Ernest Whitfield, who has attended workers rights demonstrations in Tennessee, described what he calls a "psychological game" by which Nissan uses different musical tones to signal changes on the assembly line. The short melodies, including "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Rock-a-Bye Baby," play over and over.

"You don't realize it until someone points it out to you, and you stop and hear this, and it's like, 'Oh, my God,'" said Whitfield, a press operator of 13 years. "It's really insidious ... it's like, 'We're going to treat them like children here.' You're thinking, 'This is perfectly innocent,' and really, in some ways, it's not. It's an objective behind it. I've told people plenty of times: it's a mad, psychological game that's going on inside that plant."

A Nissan statement says it has not received any reports from employees complaining about use of musical tones in the plant.

Describing it as being like something out of the "Twilight Zone," Whitfield recalled instances where plant managers sped up the assembly line without telling workers, forcing them to move faster.

Tactics on both sides

Plant management shows its workers a video encouraging them not to sign a UAW authorization card, which is the first step to getting the opportunity to hold a union vote. Some workers say they are forced to watch the video when there is an increase in union-related activity at the plant.

"I believe that the UAW will change our relationship with one another and could create additional concerns that we don't have today," a man in the video says. "When you look at the facts, the choice is clear. We believe it is not in the best interest of our employees, our customers or our community to have the UAW here."

Nissan did not respond to a question about how often the video is shown, saying only that "all of our communications to employees are in compliance with labor laws."

"Nissan respects and values the Canton workforce, and our history reflects that we recognize the employees' rights to decide for themselves whether or not to have third-party representation," a statement from Nissan reads.

At the Mississippi facility, where roughly 80 percent of workers are black, UAW emphasizes the area's past in its messaging. Hanging in its offices on Nissan Parkway is a large photo of Martin Luther King Jr. with big letters, "Workers rights are civil rights."

"If it was so that they were doing everything that they say right toward us, then we wouldn't have no use or try to form a union," 14-year Nissan paint technician Twina Scott told Sanders in the February meeting, according to the video.

Another complaint some workers have with Nissan involves Kelly Services. Starting pay with the temp agency that employs many of the plant's full-time workers is lower than those working for Nissan — between $13.46 and $14.21 — despite the fact they carry out the same tasks as Nissan employees. The agency promises the opportunity to become a Nissan employee after six months. Only, there's no guarantee, union supporters say.

"We have workers that have been there from six months to three years and still have not been converted over," Scott said.

"After a six-month period, where associates can go through training and determine if the work is a good mutual fit, they are eligible to apply for a Nissan technician position. Workers who have demonstrated good performance and attendance are considered for hire into job openings in the plant," a Nissan statement reads.

A good performance, 14-year Nissan worker Morris Mock said, seems to depend on whether the employee supports a union.

French leaders talk Mississippi

Earlier last year, members of the French Parliament questioned Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Japan-based Nissan and CEO of France-based Renault, which partners with Nissan, about the conditions at the Canton plant. The French government owns 19.7 percent of stockholder voting shares in Renault, which controls more than 40 percent of Nissan's voting shares.

In an effort to take its concerns international, UAW filed a complaint in December with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in three overseas countries.

"Everything has been done to prevent the formation of a union. Even efforts by the OECD and all other undertakings have not made a difference," said French politician Jean-Luc Laurent, according to a translated video of the February 2016 hearing. "So you may say that this may not be of concern because it is Nissan, not Renault, and it's not in France. However, France is attached to a social model, to workers rights because it is a component to industrial success."

Ghosn responded by saying that every other country where there are Nissan facilities, including Japan and England, workers have unionized and the company has strong relationships with the local unions.

Meanwhile, Nissan maintains the Canton plant has never generated enough union support to hold a vote, which requires that 30 percent of employees favor the petition. Workers at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, voted twice against unionizing.

"We have verified that there was an absolute respect of American rules of labor laws in the United States, etc. That I can guarantee," Ghosn said.

History of labor complaints

UAW filed the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development complaints in December against Nissan, Renault and the joint corporation in the Netherlands, Japan and France. The Dec. 20 news release announcing the complaints stated a report based on interviews with workers, testimonies and documents from Nissan showed several violations on the part of the company.

"They include aggressive policies and practices of union avoidance, harassment and intimidation, which instill fear at work with the aim of preventing workers from securing union representation. For years, management at Nissan and Renault have repeatedly ignored calls from workers and policy-makers to use their powers to address these global human rights violations," the release states.

The previous December, the National Labor Relations Board charged Nissan and Kelly Services with violating workers' rights at the Mississippi plant by illegally stifling workers' right to wear pro-union or anti-union clothing. The complaint stems from a uniform policy the company enacted in 2014 that called for most employees to wear company-issued pants and shirts.

"(My supervisor) said if I valued my job, I wouldn't wear that T-shirt anymore," said Karen Camp, who works in the paint department and was one of the employees NLRB interviewed.

The allegations also include that a Nissan supervisor threatened employees with plant closure, closer supervision, discipline and discharge in retaliation for union-related activity. Based on these actions, "Respondents have been interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of the(ir) rights."

"Nissan’s history reflects that we value our employees and respect their right to decide who should represent them," a Nissan statement reads. "Any claims of alleged 'threats' by Nissan’s supervisors are unfounded and are simply part of the UAW’s larger campaign to generate negative publicity about Nissan and its operations in the U.S. There have not been any findings in this matter, and Nissan is working through the established legal process to defend against the allegations in the complaint. We cannot further discuss the specifics of this particular case as it is still is actively being litigated."

The March 2016 hearing scheduled to resolve this complaint was postponed as officials continue to investigate five new charges UAW filed against Nissan Canton that month and as recently as Jan. 4. They all deal with alleged coercive statements, threats or surveillance.

Contact Anna Wolfe at (601) 961-7326 or awolfe@gannett.com. Follow @ayewolfe on Twitter.