They are American vehicles that are made overseas (like Ford Fusion, Buick Encore, Chevy Trax, Ford Ecosport), American brand vehicles that may be union made (like some Silverados are built in Indiana while others are built in Mexico) and foreign branded vehicles that are made by the UAW (like Mitsubishi outlander sport, Mazda 6's, VW Passat). Does the person patrolling the lot check all the vins to make sure a vehicle is UAW made?
Some signs at union halls are less specific, like "NO FOREIGN VEHICLES ALLOWED ON THIS PROPERTY". They mean Ford, GM, and whoever owns Chrysler at any given time. They're not pedantic about model specifics.
The whole "So, my Honda Accord that was built in Ohio is fine, but your Dodge Charger that was built in Ontario with an engine from Mexico has to go, huh?" doesn't really fly with UAW members. It's usually a reflexive "But the money goes to Japan or Korea!" Often ignoring the foreign-but-not-Asian brands, as well as every employee in the supply chain who gets a paycheck in US dollars.
Incidentally, foreign companies aren't appreciably better about it. This is Volkswagen's corporate office in Auburn Hills. The green parking spaces are only for VW / Audi / Porsche / Bugatti. Park something else there, and security guards will have you towed if they can't find you and tell you to move your car. The white spaces closest to the building are handicapped and visitor parking. And, yes, the policy is mostly focused on people who work there -- a massive number of whom are contractors and do not receive any meaningful discount on their products.
Several years ago the Detroit Tigers outfield Chevrolet display (where there are two vehicles on risers) had one of the Mexican-made Blazers on it. The UAW raised holy hell and threatened a local UAW boycott if it wasn’t replaced with one of “their” chevys.
It worked. It was replaced with an American-made Colorado pickup.
If the UAW is pedantic enough to go to war over a baseball outfield, you don’t think they’ll be pedantic in their own fuckin parking lot?
If the UAW is pedantic enough to go to war over a baseball outfield, you don’t think they’ll be pedantic in their own fuckin parking lot?
Nope.
Bitching about two vehicles that stay in the same place, are on national television, and that give the UAW a visible platform for grievance doesn't take nearly the amount of effort that patrolling an active parking lot with a VIN checker does.
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u/TatianaWinterbottom Jan 10 '25
They are American vehicles that are made overseas (like Ford Fusion, Buick Encore, Chevy Trax, Ford Ecosport), American brand vehicles that may be union made (like some Silverados are built in Indiana while others are built in Mexico) and foreign branded vehicles that are made by the UAW (like Mitsubishi outlander sport, Mazda 6's, VW Passat). Does the person patrolling the lot check all the vins to make sure a vehicle is UAW made?