Mississippi Autoworkers Mobilize

Abstract

Last year, the union-free Nissan Smyrna factory became an example of the potential consequences of an unaccountable management: a worker's skull got crushed by a 1,275 pound counterweight while inspecting a newly repaired conveyor belt. As one of many recent workplace disasters in southern auto factories, the incident was another grim reminder of what was at stake at Canton now that Nissan was deploying the same union deterrence strategies that had been successfully field-tested years ago at Smyrna. Now Canton may be labor's last stand against Nissan's empire.