Nissan Treats Temps to Car Discounts as Union Organizing Effort Underway

The Altima is built in Smyrna and available to employees for a discounted lease. Image courtesy Nissan

Nissan North America can soon offer discounted vehicle leases to a growing part of its Tennessee workforce – temporary employees. The benefit required a change in state law, which is now awaiting Governor Bill Haslam’s signature after passing the General Assembly nearly unanimously.

As long as Nissan has made cars in Tennessee, the leasing program has been limited to full-time workers.

A lot has changed since vehicle production began in Smyrna 30 years ago.

“Their business model now calls for them to use a lot of full-time, long term, leased employees,” says state Rep. David Alexander, whose district includes Nissan’s newer powertrain facility in Decherd. “I guess you could call them temps, but they’re long term.”

Nissan employs roughly 10,000 people in Tennessee. The company won’t provide a breakdown of how many technically work for a staffing company called Yates Services. Those employees are widely believed to make less than their full-time peers in hourly wage and benefits.

Giving long term temps discounted vehicle leases has been viewed by union organizers as an overture aimed at keeping staving off the UAW. In recent months, the UAW has held some of the largest meetings in Smyrna in a decade.

The state law being changed has been on the books since the 1980s. It was passed to limit each worker to three discounted leases as a way to ease concerns from auto dealers.