Tennessee Republican state Sen. Bo Watson
Tennessee Republican state Sen. Bo Watson really does not like unions. He
dislikes unions so much that he would sacrifice giant numbers of jobs in his state if the jobs brought with them the threat of unions. Speaking about a proposed $165.8 million in tax incentives for Volkswagen to produce an SUV in Tennessee, Watson was emphatic.
“The incentive, no doubt, will create about 200,000 jobs directly, and countless more indirectly,” he admitted. “It will give southeast Tennessee a big foothold in the automotive industry, particularly in research and development. And it will allow the development of a new line of Volkswagen vehicles, particularly the SUV.”
But Watson asserted that the threat of organized labor unions might not be worth the benefits that Volkswagen would bring to the state.
“VW is a magnet for organized labor, intentionally,” he opined. “I believe this committee should know and understand what Volkswagen’s position is on this issue, both here and in Germany.”
First off, I'm ... quite sure the number is not 200,000 jobs. If $165.8 million in tax incentives could create 200,000 jobs, the United States would long since have been at full employment. In fact, it's probably
more like 2,000 jobs (but on the
video, Watson says 200,000 smoothly—this is not a slip of the tongue that leaves him caught between saying 200 and saying 2,000 and appearing to say 200,000).
But even if it was 200,000 jobs, that would apparently not be enough for Watson—who ended up abstaining from a vote on the tax incentives—to be willing to risk unions gaining strength in the state. That is a lot of hatred of the idea of workers joining together to bargain for better wages and working conditions. This better-unemployment-than-unions position doesn't make Watson unique among elected Republicans, though. In 2014, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley took a similar position, saying that "We discourage any companies that have unions from wanting to come to South Carolina because we don’t want to take the water."
It really is almost like they think unions might be contagious. Like South Carolina or Tennessee workers in non-union workplaces might look at the union workers at Volkswagen or wherever and think "I want that" and go out and try to make it happen. Which they might! And these Republicans are clear that they would prefer higher unemployment among their constituents than having that possibility.