Before the VW results were known, members of the capitalist media expressed skepticism that a union could win in the U.S. South. Governors of five Southern states warned that unionization could cost workers their jobs and/or discourage new investments that would bring jobs to the region, threatening “the values we live by.” The VW vote was a big punch to the bosses’ collective gut.

Now the union’s chances of winning at other southern plants are being downplayed. “Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at the research firm AutoForecast Solutions, predicted that most Japanese and South Korean manufacturers with plants in the South would be more difficult targets for the UAW, because they have worked hard to develop a close relationship with workers,” the New York Times reported April 20.

However, the prospects for a successful unionization drive across the South, including but not limited to the auto industry, are high. Many of the 400-plus unionized Starbucks stores are in Southern states. The Union of Southern Service Workers has launched an ambitious organizing drive.

The labor movement urgently needs to organize the South. Volkswagen workers have clearly demonstrated that it can be done!