LOUISVILLE, KY—Teamsters Local 89 is threatening to picket Ford’s Louisville assembly plant as it prepares to begin production of the Escape next month. The union fears Ford is going to hire only nonunion drivers at lower wages to prepare the vehicles for shipment to car dealers.
FORT SMITH, AR—Union members at Whirlpool’s refrigerator assembly plant here approved an “effects agreement” that stipulates how they will be paid as the company shuts down the plant in mid-2012.
INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana legislature is set to vote on a right-to-work bill that would make it illegal for businesses and unions to negotiate contracts that require all employees—even those who do not wish to be union members—to pay union fees as a condition of their employment.