As the time winds closer to the VW plant beginning production here in Chattanooga I grow more and more against this whole thing. There are so many things that will change in Chattanooga and they are not positive.

Look at Nashville before Saturn - a great place to visit, music everywhere, calm roads just an overall great place. Now Nashville is overcrowded, traffic everywhere, and people keep moving farther and farther out of town to get away from everything.

Locally we have given numerous tax breaks with promise of local jobs and careers for factory workers, supervisors, and even people to help build the plant. We are going to pay for VW if we like it or not. It is not just free. Not to mention the promise of local suppliers for building the plant.

The things that bother me the most about VW coming are the local organizations that keep pumping VW and placing false facts in peoples' heads. The following is my rant list on VW and it's time for me to clear my mind:

The Chamber of Commerce needs to jump off the VW bandwagon. They constantly have council meetings and attract people by naming the topic “How to do business with VW?” My friends, if you haven’t got them as a customer by now you might as well give up on that. The Chamber of Commerce is in business for small business, but not in Chattanooga. In Chattanooga the chamber is in business for VW and other companies that have the extra cash to support their unattended events.

Ron Littlefield needs to stop telling everyone how he brought VW to Chattanooga. VW was in the works long before Littlefield was the mayor. This was Claude Ramsey's doing. He deserves the accolades and credit for this. Back off of it, Ron.

The other day my company got sent an invitation from the Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce to pay $150 to take a class on speaking German. Really? So basically what you are telling me is that the very few people that are moving here from their corporate office in D.C. and the even fewer that will relocate from Germany will not speak English and we will be forced to learn German to communicate? I'm sorry, Catoosa County, English is a national language and recognized across the world.

Finally people think that this is going to make Chattanooga an amazing place? Just for thought: Did you know the average lifespan for an automobile production plant in the United States is only 7.27 years. So my question, what are we going to do with Enterprise South then? Will it be a wasteland once again, but only this time have a cheesy waterfall out front?

I wish Chattanooga would stay what it is, and that is great place to live, work and grow.

Nathan Frazier
North Chattanooga

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I'm over VW, too. With all these grand promises of jobs, they forgot to mention one important detail - fluency in German required. I have applied for five jobs and had two interviews. The job descriptions did not mention required fluency. However, if you get to an interview (which I did twice), it is extremely stressed during the interview of the importance (and necessity) of being fluent.

The interviews were brutal, and I left feeling confused, annoyed and asking myself, "Did these people not know where they were building this plant when they inked this deal?" This is the deep south, people. I can count on one hand and not use all the fingers of how many people I personally know who are fluent in German. Granted, the production workforce probably doesn't need to be fluent, but if you're looking for anything managerial and abov, better invest in Rosetta Stone.

Kathy Burke

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I am with these people about VW. These big companies think Southern people are stupid. They have been promised they would not have to put up with unions. I called Wamp's office and was told in Tennessee if someone in a company just didn't like a worker for any reason they could fire them without giving a reason - even though they were a good worker. Is this right?

No wonder they want to come to a place where they think people are too stupid to form a union. Now I am not for a union, but if you fire someone I believe there should be a good reason.

So, don't be fooled, Tennessee. Wake up and see what is real.
Dorothy Weikel

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Mr Frazier:

Just want to say thank you for saying what has been on everyone else's mind, but no one has had the guts to come out and say.

Mark Stevens
Chattanooga

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Hard to believe that, in these tough economic times, we have citizens decrying industry and jobs. Chattanooga became the envy of the nation when it landed VW, establishing a fresh new image on the world stage (and we're so fortunate Toyota bypassed us). Clear-thinking folks are grateful for the efforts of those who were instrumental in bringing VW to town, whether at the city, county, state or federal level.

Can you believe there are actually people who think Chattanooga would be better off without industrial development?

Jim Yarbrough
Chattanooga

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The Saturn plant is not in Nashville, Davidson County. It is 30 miles south on I-65 (Maury and Williamson counties.)

Maybe we need to travel outside of Hamilton County a little, and Chattanooga could use change. Moving outside of Nashville is a good thing.

When I moved to Chattanooga 13 years ago and my car insurance and tax went higher in Chattanooga. Why?

Also you have to spend money to make money and this town can use that.
But Chattanooga would never explode at the seams because of the VW plant. It would take more than that (a lot).

D.R. Smith

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Posted for MsWeikel,

Tennessee is an 'employment at will' state. Any company that you work for in TN can eliminate your position at any time. While it is nice to think that an employer would give you a sane and valid reason for 'eliminating' your position, it is not required. The notice of your 'firing' from a corporation often comes in a memo stating something similar to:

Dear John Q Employee, as of [date], your position [job title] is no longer needed. Please turn in your ID badge and parking tag to your immediate manager no later than [time] on [date].

Often these eliminations occur on a Friday after you returned from lunch to find that your computer access was blocked, and a security guard was at your desk with the memo and some empty boxes. The guard is there to escort you from the building. Absolutely sterile, cold, surgical efficiency, copyrighted by the American corporate machine. If you work in a manufacturing or other labor job you might just get handed a pink slip with company policy and basic instructions on it.

Some common reasons, if given, are: "The company is restructuring and your position has been eliminated," "The company had a bad year and we have to cut positions or close" [this is followed by a news article announcing the hiring of a new CEO or VP with lavish salary and bonuses ], "The company 'outsourced' your department to another company in another state or country" [If you are 'lucky' they will give you contact information so you can apply for a job with the other company and move to another state or country!].

The rule you have to remember is this: the longer you are with a company and the more you earn, the more you become a target for elimination if the company has problems. Seniority is the code word for 'the next one to lose their job.'

Sorry to give you the bad news Ms. Weikel, but being a good employee is not a guarantee of employment.

Ted Ladd