The Americans with Charlie LeDuff: The death of the UAW

As you might of heard, the UAW went down to Chattanooga, Tenn. and took a bullet a few weeks ago when non-unionized workers at the Volkswagen plant told them to pack their carpet bags and head north.

Now the question is: Why would a Southern man trust his future to a German company and not an American union? We deserve an explanation, since we not only bailed out the auto companies but also the pension fund of the UAW.

In this edition of The Americans with Charlie LeDuff, the crew takes us on a journey that starts at the UAW headquarters in Detroit and takes us to plants in Tennessee and Alabama.

LeDuff talks to workers at the Volkswagen plant: Matt Patterson, Executive Director, Center for Worker Freedom, an anti-union organization; workers at a Mercedes plant; a man who is unemployed and eats squirrel; and LeDuff wraps it up with an interesting conversation with Republican Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama.

Play the video in the player to see the full report. Play the bonus Daily Minute to get more from the DC guy with a Manhattan cell phone and some food for thought from a man who feeds his family squirrel.