Nissan workers reject union bid by UAW

Out of roughly 3,500 employees at the Canton-based plant, more than 60% opposed the union

In a test of labour’s ability to expand its reach in the South, workers at a Nissan plant in Mississippi have overwhelmingly rejected a bid to unionise.

Out of roughly 3,500 employees at the Canton-based plant who voted Thursday and Friday, more than 60 per cent opposed the union. It was an emphatic coda to a yearslong organising effort underwritten by the United Automobile Workers, which has been repeatedly frustrated in its efforts to organise major auto plants in the region. The election campaign at the plant, where a large majority of workers are African-American, frequently took on racial overtones. Some employees alleged that white supervisors dispensed special treatment to white subordinates, a charge the company emphatically denied.

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