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Workers at Mississippi auto supplier protesting low wages

Workers at an automotive seat factory in Mississippi are protesting what they say are low wages and poor working conditions as they attempt to unionize in what could become a new front for the United Auto Workers in the state. A group of workers and supporters at the Faurecia SA seating plant in Cleveland plans a Tuesday march. "We work an auto job and we're getting paid like Wal-Mart wages," said Jamarqus Reed, a 32-year-old Pace resident who has worked at the plant for almost 10 years. "We're trying to better ourselves." Nationally, the UAW has staked its future on unionizing Southern auto factories, with limited success so far. The union has been trying to organize Nissan Motor Co.'s Canton, MS, plant for years, and lost a 2008 worker vote at a Johnson Controls plant in nearby Madison that French-based Faurecia bought in 2011. The UAW narrowly lost a unionization vote at the Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga, TN, last year, but the union has since qualified for a new labor policy at the plant that grants access to meeting space and to regular discussions with management. The policy stops short of collective bargaining rights. The union is also trying to organize Nissan's assembly plant in Smyrna, TN, and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, AL. Protesters say Faurecia employees make a top wage of $11.64 per hour, while contract workers make $7.73 an hour. Company spokesman Tony Sapienza said that with overtime, the typical Faurecia employee makes more than the $27,000 a year that is the median wage around Cleveland. Wages are often low in the heavily impoverished Delta. "We are very confident that we are offering a very competitive wage," Sapienza said. Organizers criticize use of lower-paid contract workers Shannon Greenidge, a 44-year-old Cleveland resident, said she worked for a labor agency for more than two years before being hired directly by Faurecia. Greenidge said she makes $9.29 an hour, and can't save for retirement or to send her 11-year-old daughter to college. "That's not going to help me down the line in life," she said. Union supporters say as many as half the workers at the plant work for a contract-labor agency. Sapienza said that while the number varies, the company expects 15 percent of its workforce will be temporary employees this year. The UAW has organized some Southern auto parts plants in recent years, including Faurecia plants in Cottondale, Alabama, in 2012 and Louisville, Kentucky in 2013.

European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer

Tesla Model S drivers put way more miles on their cars than Nissan Leaf owners do (we think)

Just a few weeks ago, Nissan announced that its customers have driven over a billion electric kilometers in the four years that the world's best-selling EV has been on the road. That heady milestone means, Nissan says, that the Leaf has saved 180 million kilograms of CO2 emissions around the world. The billion kilometers have been split among the 147,000 Leaf vehicles that Nissan has sold. Well, not really, since the billion kilometer total only counts Leaf EVs registered with CarWings, which Nissan says is 54 percent of the total sales. That's 79,380 cars and results in an average – and it's only a rough average, but what're you gonna do? – of 12,597 miles per car. Let's keep that number in mind for a minute. Today, despite going on sale a year and a half after the Leaf (June 2012 versus late 2010), Tesla Motors Tweeted today that Model S drivers have hit the same numerical milestone. Tesla didn't say how many of its vehicles were involved in its count, but we think that Tesla has sold at least 50,000 Model S electric vehicles globally (about 2,650 in 2012, 22,450 in 2013, 21,821 for 2014 through the end of September), so we'll estimate a rough average for each Model S of 20,000 miles. So, in case anyone ever needs numeric proof that a Model S is more fun to drive than a Leaf – that's the only possible thing this could mean, right? *ahem, longer range* – now you've got the data. {C} This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nissan says "thanks a billion" to LEAF owners Nissan LEAF drivers registered on CarWings telematics have collectively driven ONE BILLION KILOMETERS worldwide* Globally, Nissan LEAF drivers have saved more than 180 MILLION kilograms of CO2 emissions* Over 147,000 Nissan LEAF vehicles have been sold globally to date ROLLE, Switzerland – Nissan has revealed that owners of the LEAF, its 100% electric car, have collectively recorded an impressive one billion kilometers on the CarWings telematics system worldwide – saving over 180 million kilograms of CO2 emissions* in the process. This incredible achievement comes almost four years since the LEAF was launched in 2010 as one of the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicles. It is now the best-selling electric vehicle in history, with over 147,000 LEAF vehicles sold globally to date, 31,000 of which have been sold in Europe.