Workers’ Rights are Civil and Human Rights — and Nissan Employees in Mississippi Deserve Better
The right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining are fundamental rights.

Beginning tomorrow, nearly 4,000 employees working at the Nissan plant in Canton, Miss., will decide whether or not to unionize. Of the 43 Nissan plants around the world, only three are not unionized: two in Tennessee, and the one in Canton. The election, which is set to take place on Thursday and Friday, represents a critical moment in the battle for workers’ rights, and for civil rights in the United States more broadly.
Last month, Nissan employees at the Canton plant filed a petition for a union election. The employees cited frozen pension plans, wage stagnation, unfair two-tier hiring practices, Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations, and a culture of fear and intimidation around organizing that has resulted in several National Labor Relations Board complaints — including charges just this week — as issues that union representation could help resolve. Since the petition was filed, the United Auto Workers has represented the Nissan employees hoping to unionize.
The election represents more than just a question of economics; it also concerns a question of values and a chance to help mitigate Mississippi’s deep history of racial discrimination and affirm the civil rights of Mississippi’s workers. Nissan takes pride in its success, going as far as to brag that the Altima is the best-selling car among African-American consumers. At the Canton plant, where 80 percent of the Nissan employees are African American, the company is actively trying to deny their employees their civil rights. These employees have the right to freedom of association, freedom of speech, and, if they choose, the freedom to unionize.
But the election has been met with clear hostility by Nissan, with employees reporting intimidation and threats of lower wages, layoffs, and plant closure, and even retribution against and termination of employees who speak out in favor of organizing. Nissan has been vocal about its position, with supervisors wearing “Vote No” shirts to work, showing videos bashing unionization on office television sets, and buying advertising slots on local TV to run anti-union ads. UAW Secretary-Treasurer Gary Casteel told the Associated Press, Nissan’s efforts to defeat unionization are the “nastiest anti-union campaigns in the modern history of the American labor movement.”
Civil and human rights leaders agree. On July 21, 15 leaders of the U.S. civil rights movement wrote to Nissan North America Chairman José Muñoz urging Nissan to allow its workers to organize through a free and fair election, noting that “Nissan employees in Canton deserve better — and that workers’ rights are civil and human rights.”
But the opposition from Nissan has been supported from many in the Mississippi business community and the governor of Mississippi, which is not a surprise in the Southern right-to-work state where unions do not have a strong presence. In Mississippi, only 6.6 percent of workers belong to a labor union, well below the national average of 10.7 percent. This lack of labor organizing, coupled with low minimum wages in Southern states, has caused many auto manufacturers to move to the South in recent years. If the Canton plant chooses to unionize, it could signal a major shift for the region.
Mississippi also has the highest rate of poverty in the country, and unions represent an opportunity for workers in the state to effectively advocate for themselves and work with their employer to improve working conditions, benefits, and pay. In doing so, being able to unionize represents a gateway to economic security for the Nissan workers and their families and the economic stabilization of communities. If the Canton employees vote to unionize, it could open a pathway for thousands of autoworkers in the South to organize and secure a better workplace and future for themselves and their families.
The Nissan workers in Canton deserve the same opportunities available to Nissan workers in every other country: the ability to freely and fairly organize, the ability to advocate for themselves without fear of retribution or termination, and the ability to create mechanisms to hold their employer accountable. Employees in Canton need to be treated with dignity as respected partners that perform a vital role in Nissan’s success.








