Protest by workers in Miss. could open new push by UAW

JACKSON, MISS. (AP) — 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 seating plant in Cleveland plans a Tuesday march.

The UAW has staked its future on unionizing Southern auto factories, with limited success.

The union has sought to organize Nissan Motor Co.’s plant in Canton, Mississippi. It lost a vote at a Johnson Controls plant in Madison in 2008 that French-based Faurecia later bought. In Tennessee, the UAW lost a worker vote at a Volkswagen plant last year, but formed a local which the company has granted limited bargaining rights.