Fisker’s silence worries Delaware union workers who hope to build plug-in car

Remember a year or so ago, when Fisker Automotive’s Delaware manufacturing facility acquisition was such big news it involved the Vice President of the United States? The start-up automaker hasn’t been totally silent since then, but the local union leaders and workers haven’t heard as much news as they would like, and the local press has gotten wind of the restlessness. Take, for example, this quote from Gary Casteel, a regional director of the UAW overseeing operations in Delaware:

As of today, we haven’t seen a hiring plan or a manufacturing plan or a plant renovation plan. I would totally expect to be part of that process because we represent the employees that will one day work there. That was the commitment. We would expect them to do what they said they were going to do.

Or this quote from Sam Lathem, president of Delaware AFL-CIO:

We have no idea what’s going on with Fisker. I’d like to know. When we started out on this journey, I thought we were starting out together.

Fisker and the state say that federal labor law is stopping the company from negotiating with the UAW and the 2,500 workers the company could employ and that, in any case, Fisker’s focus is on launching the Karma right now. That vehicle will be built in Finland.

Need more proof that things are getting unruly in Delaware? Read through some of the 160 comments that follow that local press report. Whew.

[Source: Delaware Online]