1 min read

Season 4, Episode 129

Corvette turns 70, a look back at the history of the sports car

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Guest Name:


Jason Watson

Guest Website:


https://region8.uaw.org/uaw-local-2164 

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GM Bargaining Chairman of the Corvette manufacturing plant for United Auto Workers Local 2164, Jason Watson, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the 70th anniversary of the Chevrolet Corvette and its history. Watson also talked about past negotiations and upcoming negotiations.

Watson discussed the tough start for Corvette in the 1950s before being redesigned. He also talked about the process and time involved in making a base model Corvette and compared it to the performance models. 

The management and UAW members are holding some events to celebrate the 70th Anniversary. Workers and management will sit down to an extended lunch followed by a classic car display with the workers' vehicles, Watson said. Around the plant, they will be handing out different Corvette memorabilia as well. Watson said many of the workers love the Corvette, own classic versions of the car and collect memorabilia, which helps create a sense of pride he hadn’t experienced at other plants. 

Bargaining with management has historically been a successful endeavor for the Local. Many of the workers and management have lived in the Bowling Green, Ky. area and know the importance of this plant. This has lead to a closer-than-usual relationship between the workers and management. Watson hopes this year's negotiations will be similar and credits that to the sense of community within the plant.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more.

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America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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