PHILADELPHIA — Republican Gov. Phil Bryant said Thursday that employees at the Nissan Motor Co. plant in Mississippi should reject unionization because he believes labor unions have hurt the automotive industry in Detroit and other places.
Workers at the manufacturing plant in Canton will vote Aug. 3 and 4 on whether to affiliate with the United Auto Workers. The union is trying to win its first vote at an entire plant in the South.
Bryant spoke to several hundred people Thursday at the Neshoba County Fair, an annual event known as “Mississippi’s Giant Houseparty.” He said the Nissan plant in Canton, which opened 14 years ago, is making some of the most advanced vehicles in the world.
“I don’t think we need a union to come in there and tell us how to make a better automobile,” Bryant said to applause from the audience “They can get back on the Bernie Sanders bus and go back to New York, and I’ll pay their way.”
Sanders, a Vermont senator, unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. He traveled to Mississippi in March to speak at a pro-union rally near the Nissan plant, saying union membership could bring workers better pay and benefits.
Bryant also responded to remarks made Wednesday at the fair by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, the only Democrat in statewide office. Hood said Republicans have hurt the state budget by “giving away money to large corporations” through tax breaks and development incentives.
Bryant said incentives have helped attract and retain manufacturers such as Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Nissan and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, which has a plant near Blue Springs in northern Mississippi.
“Those people that are working there, those wonderful Mississippians, are able to live the American dream,” Bryant said.
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