VW and Its Workers Explore a Union at a Tennessee Plant

The company would be the first German automaker to have such a council at a United States plant. A works council is a group of employees, including both white- and blue-collar workers, that meets with management on issues like working conditions and productivity.

But to avoid violating American labor laws, the plant would first have to be formally unionized, the company said.

“VW workers in Chattanooga have the unique opportunity to introduce this new model of labor relations to the United States, in partnership with the U.A.W.,” the union’s president, Bob King, said in a statement on Friday.

Volkswagen officials told employees at the Chattanooga plant on Thursday that it was negotiating with the union about establishing a works council there, where about 2,000 workers assemble the VW Passat. A letter, signed by the plant’s chairman, Frank Fischer, and its vice president for human resources, Sebastian Patta, said the talks were aimed at “the possibility of implementing an innovative model of employee representation for all employees.”

The VW officials said that a works council could be created at a company in the United States only with the cooperation of a labor union because it might otherwise be viewed as an illegal company-sponsored union. That, the VW officials wrote, is why the company has started its dialogue with the U.A.W. None of the foreign carmakers with auto plants in the South are currently unionized.

Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee has been outspoken in opposing any union inroads at the Volkswagen plant, warning that it would undermine his state’s efforts to attract investment.

Volkswagen and U.A.W. officials met on Aug. 30 in Wolfsburg, Germany, where the company is based, to continue previous discussions about the works council and unionizing at the Chattanooga plant, which has been operating since 2011 and has a total of 2,500 employees including managers.

Some labor and auto experts say that if the VW plant in Chattanooga gets a works council, it would create pressure to do likewise at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, S.C., and the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala.

While some executives see works councils as a pesky thorn in their side, others see them as a useful source of ideas from the shop floor and a vehicle to build consensus and employee morale.

“Volkswagen is a company that has extensive experience with union representation,” Mr. King said in his statement, “and the U.A.W. believes the role of the union in the 21st century is to create an environment where both the company and workers succeed.”

U.A.W. officials say that Volkswagen has agreed to not oppose any unionization drive in Chattanooga.

In the letter to Chattanooga employees, Mr. Fischer and Mr. Patta wrote that they wanted to “prevent any influence from outside driving a wedge into our great team.”

That resembles language that anti-union companies often use to suggest that unions would be an undesirable third party that gets between employees and managers. But a U.A.W. official said that sentence referred to anti-union groups, like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and its Center for Economic Freedom, that have vigorously criticized Volkswagen for not battling to keep out a union the way that many American companies do.

Blackberry Says to Explore Strategic Alternatives

BlackBerry, which pioneered mobile email with its first smartphones and email pagers, said on Monday it had set up a committee to review its options, sparking a debate over whether Canada's one-time crown jewel is more valuable as a whole or snapped up piece by piece by competitors or private investors.

The company said Prem Watsa, whose Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd is BlackBerry's biggest shareholder, was leaving the board as BlackBerry determines its next steps.

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper said Fairfax was talking to industry and private equity players about possibility taking BlackBerry private. Fairfax did not respond to requests for comment.

Other potential buyers of BlackBerry assets, if not the company itself, could include deep-pocketed Canadian pension funds, as well as some of its rivals.

BlackBerry, once a stock market darling, has bled market share to Apple Inc and phones using Google Inc's Android operating system, and its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones have failed to gain traction with consumers.

BlackBerry shares rose more than 10 percent to $10.78 in New York and C$11.13 in Toronto in afternoon trading. But the shares remain well below their levels in June, before the company reported dismal results that included poor sales of the BlackBerry 10 that it viewed as key to a turnaround.

The share price peaked at about C$150 in June 2008, when BlackBerry, then known as Research In Motion, had a market capitalization of more than $80 billion.

BlackBerry's assets include a shrinking, yet well-regarded services business that powers its security-focused messaging system, worth $3 billion to $4.5 billion; a collection of patents that could be worth $2 billion to $3 billion; and $3.1 billion in cash and investments, according to analysts.

Even at a conservative estimate, that is more than the company's $5.4 billion market capitalization, although analysts say the smartphones that bear its name have little or no value and it might cost $2 billion to shut the unit that makes them.

BlackBerry's fate is likely to involve the Canadian government, which vets foreign takeovers of domestic companies. The government said it would not comment on speculation, but a spokesman for Industry Minister James Moore said the government wished BlackBerry well in its search for new options.

Companies tipped as possible partners for BlackBerry have included Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc, as well as Lenovo Group Ltd, where a senior executive said earlier this year the Chinese computer maker would consider a bid for BlackBerry to boost its own mobile business.

But Chinese involvement would trigger deep concerns about security issues from the Canadian government.

Sources say Wall Street bankers have also pitched deals involving BlackBerry to companies such as HTC Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, so far without success.

Watsa said Fairfax has "no current intention" to sell its BlackBerry shares - some 10 percent of the company. But if he remained on the board of directors, he would have a conflict of interest if he wanted to be part of a play for BlackBerry.

"I continue to be a strong supporter of the company, the board and management as they move forward during this process," he said in a statement.

Analysts expressed scepticism about the new committee, noting that BlackBerry announced a review more than a year ago when it hired JPMorgan and RBC as financial advisers. A source said both are still involved in the current strategic review.

"While a change in structure could result in a higher stock price in the near term, we do not envision any changes that would help BlackBerry reverse the significant smartphone share loss or rapid decline in service revenues," said Tim Long, analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

BREATHING ROOM

USA Network to Explore Sitcoms and Reality Shows

For most of the past decade the USA Network has lived by the mantra “blue skies,” which has translated into programming a string of upbeat hourlong drama hits, like “Burn Notice” and “Royal Pains.”

That strategy has paid off, with USA ranking as the most-watched entertainment network on cable for eight straight years. So why is the network going to make a new pitch to advertisers on May 16 that emphasizes areas previously little explored by USA, like situation comedy and reality shows?

The most obvious reason: USA paid a hefty price — $1 million to $1.5 million an episode — three years ago to acquire reruns of the hugely popular ABC comedy “Modern Family.” Those episodes become available this fall, so a shift toward some comedy-based nights was inevitable.

But the network’s top program executives also acknowledge that in order to grow, and to maintain the top position in a competitive cable environment, it is time to branch out into new programming directions.

At its advertiser presentation next week, USA is expected to announce that it has ordered its first two original sitcoms, as well as several new reality shows, and a new drama that breaks with the USA tradition by taking a bit of a walk on the dark side.

“One of the dances any network does, and we’re doing one now, is the balance between breadth and depth,” said Jeff Wachtel, the co-president of USA. “We are a very broad general entertainment network in a world that is increasingly about the depth of the commitment.”

He added, “We have a reservoir of good will. Now that’s great, but it’s also a trap. Because if anybody imputes a formula to you, you really are in danger of being formulaic. We’ve got to challenge the audience.”

Other cable networks have been doing that with great success: A&E has the reality hit “Duck Dynasty;” History collected big audiences for “The Bible;” FX has forged a reputation for dark dramas like “Justified;” and AMC has the biggest drama in all of television with “The Walking Dead.”

“There are a lot of networks infringing on USA’s territory,” said Derek Baine, a media analyst with SNL Kagan. “Changing the program lineup can be done. You just have to tread carefully because it can be jarring for the audience.”

USA’s numbers are unquestionably potent. Under Bonnie Hammer, who now is the chairwoman of the cable entertainment group for NBCUniversal, USA has been a profit machine. In 2012, the network exceeded $1 billion in profit for the first time, and it projects the number to be higher in 2013.

USA still has the top overall audience among cable entertainment networks with an average of 2.92 million viewers, ahead of the 2.43 million for the History Channel. USA is down slightly, 2 percent, this season.

It has remained No. 1, though narrowly, over TBS in one of the two audience groups that dominates sales to advertisers — viewers ages 25 to 54. But it trails TBS this season so far in the most important audience category, viewers ages 18 to 49.

That might not be bad news for USA, however, and not only because TBS gets a springtime bounce from college and pro basketball. The big winner for TBS is its package of repeats of the hit CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” which runs as often as 16 to 20 times a week on TBS.

Chris McCumber, the network’s other co-president, said USA would most likely use “Modern Family” much as TBS has used “Big Bang” — all over its schedule, sometimes filling a whole night of prime time.

“We want to be careful not to overuse it,” Mr. McCumber said. “But we think it will raise all boats in prime time.”

There is some question about whether “Modern Family” can perform as “Big Bang” has. It is a filmed comedy without a laugh track, and those tend to repeat less well than taped shows with audience laughter.