Appodlachia

Appodlachia Appalachian politics & culture from the left.

John Brown is a hero / Unions are good / Accents are sexy / redneck is a term of endearment

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Our deepest condolences to the family of Steve Lipscomb. This is the worst news a coal mining family can possibly hear 😢
11/14/2025

Our deepest condolences to the family of Steve Lipscomb. This is the worst news a coal mining family can possibly hear 😢

Data centers seem like a boondoggle to me. Theyre trying real hard to get them in West Virginia.
11/13/2025

Data centers seem like a boondoggle to me. Theyre trying real hard to get them in West Virginia.

Seems a bit high considering WVU had a $45 million budget shortfall and cut several programs because of it 🤔
11/13/2025

Seems a bit high considering WVU had a $45 million budget shortfall and cut several programs because of it 🤔

Workers at the Volkswagen assembly plant here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted last week to authorize a strike. This doe...
11/12/2025

Workers at the Volkswagen assembly plant here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted last week to authorize a strike. This doesn’t mean that a strike is inevitable, but it now gives their bargaining committee the authority to call one if they deem it necessary. This is a critical piece of leverage for the union at a time when they are fighting to get a fair contract.

The assembly plant is Volkswagen’s North American hub for electric vehicle assembly and employs over 3,800 people. It is an important employer in the area, but also holds some interesting symbolism as the first place in the U.S. to assemble Volkswagen’s ID.4 electric vehicle — in deeply “red” Tennessee, a state whose lawmakers are mostly hostile to EVs.

UAW had been trying to organize it for several years when a breakthrough happened in 2024. Last year, the assembly plant became the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to unionize, and the first one in the South outside the Big 3 manufacturers.

Workers celebrate after a successful union vote last year
This was a massive moment. Tennessee is a right-to-work state that is very hostile to unions. The union had been rejected twice in recent years, in part due to heavy campaigning by Volkswagen corporate and by Republican politicians against unionizing. The company held captive audience meetings and other anti-union tactics, and were successful in defeating a union vote in 2019.

The UAW and the global union movement felt more optimistic this time around than in 2014, but the bullying tactics of the massive anti-union movement in southern US turned out to be stronger.

For nine weeks, VW employees were told that a yes vote meant not only a severe threat of job losses, but also economic decline for the state of Tennessee and the entire US South.

Let’s just say, this time around, Volkswagen wasn’t exactly thrilled to have to be dealing with a union (big corporations fu***ng hate unions, in case y’all didn’t know). They are the very justified thorn in the ass of massive corporations, and the only real line of defense and tool of leverage against them for workers.

(Read the full post on my substack. Link in the comments)

Praying for this miner and their family
11/11/2025

Praying for this miner and their family

This is a scam an should be illegal.
11/11/2025

This is a scam an should be illegal.

I actually agree with Senator Paul on this. The new funding bill contains a ban on virtually all hemp-derived products. ...
11/11/2025

I actually agree with Senator Paul on this. The new funding bill contains a ban on virtually all hemp-derived products. This would DESTROY an entire thriving industry in Kentucky and across the country.

The only kind of potato I trust are freshly dug taters
11/11/2025

The only kind of potato I trust are freshly dug taters

11/10/2025

This could be a crucial moment in southern labor organizing, especially if the bargaining committee decides a strike is warranted.

I don’t think I agree with this at all
11/08/2025

I don’t think I agree with this at all

I don’t think we should be bailing out multi-billion dollar Ai companies.
11/07/2025

I don’t think we should be bailing out multi-billion dollar Ai companies.

Data centers are being proposed in many places, including Appalachia. Lawyers for Microsoft, one company pushing for the...
11/04/2025

Data centers are being proposed in many places, including Appalachia. Lawyers for Microsoft, one company pushing for them, even admitted nobody wants them and the community gets very little benefit. AND they’re costing you way more money!

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