MACON, Ga.—The United Steelworkers are accusing Kumho Tire of waging a “psychological warfare” campaign after 
workers at the company’s new plant here rejected the union by a 164-136 margin. After more than 80% of the workers there signed union cards in September—safety, especially employees being forced to work with toxic chemicals without masks or gloves, was a key issue—the company held daily anti-union meetings that lasted as long as 3 hours, telling groups of workers that they would close the plant if it went union and haranguing them in one-on-one talks. Steelworkers organizing director Maria Somma told PaydayReport that she had never seen an anti-union campaign that intense in her 20 years of organizing. “It was psychological warfare with a vulnerable population of workers,” she said. The union will file a challenge to the election with the National Labor Relations Board, she told the Macon Telegraph after the results were announced Oct. 13. The Steelworkers also filed an unfair-labor-practice charge with the board after the Korean company fired union activist Mario Smith on Oct. 17.
