Organizing using Civil Rights and Foreign Pressure: UAW at Nissan in Mississippi

• In Event: Labor and Civil Rights in an Era of Rising Populism

Abstract

Of the recent United Auto Workers attempts to organize foreign-owned automobile assembly plants, the campaign at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi stands out in two respects: (1) the union relied heavily on the language and practice of the civil rights movement, and (2) the union used international political pressure to a far greater degree than in other campaigns at foreign-owned automobile assembly plants. Why did the UAW take this approach? What were the details behind the campaign? How effective was it? This paper addresses these three questions.

Author

• Stephen J. Silvia, American University