Volkswagen No Longer Wants Chattanooga Plant to Unionize

A new report from The New York Times has revealed that Volkswagen no longer supports the unionization of its Chattanooga, Tenn. plant, which builds the U.S.-spec Passat midsize sedan. As a result of the diesel emissions scandal, a large portion of the senior management at Volkswagen has changed, which has affected its approach toward unionization.

The change in attitude suggests that Volkswagen is no longer trying to replicate a German model of labor relations in Chattanooga, where workers have a strong voice in how the factory is operated. On Monday, the automaker announced that it would go to federal court to appeal a recent UAW victory that saw 160 maintenance workers vote to accept representation by the union late last year. The rest of the factory’s 1,500 workers, on the other hand, have not yet voted to accept UAW representation; however, the National Labor Relations Board said that Volkswagen must start bargaining with the UAW on behalf of the maintenance workers who tend to the plant’s robots and machinery. The automaker has objected since it wants its hourly employees to decide if they want to accept UAW representation.

“Volkswagen respects the right of all of our employees to decide the question of union representation,” the automaker said in a statement. VW continued, stating it wanted “to allow everyone to vote as one group on the matter.”

The UAW, in response to Volkswagen’s plan to appeal, has accused the automaker of violating U.S. law. “At a time when Volkswagen already has run afoul of the federal and state governments in the emissions-cheating scandal, we’re disappointed that the company now is choosing to thumb its nose at the federal government over U.S. labor law,” said Gary Casteel, the union’s secretary-treasurer and head of its organizing efforts in Chattanooga.

Volkswagen’s union dealings and the diesel emissions scandal has revealed that the automaker is no longer seen by the UAW as a partner, according to Maury Nicely, a Chattanooga lawyer who represents a group of Volkswagen employees that oppose the UAW.

Originally, Volkswagen wanted to recreate elements of German labor-management relations in Chattanooga by making a works council, a committee made up of employees who negotiate factory policies with managers. According to Gary Klotz, a labor lawyer at the Detroit office of Nutzel Long, Volkswagen supported the UAW so that it can have a works council in the Chattanooga plant.

In February 2014, a plant-wide vote took place. The UAW lost but continued its efforts by setting up a branch called Local 42 to push for unionization. By October 2015, the UAW planned to have maintenance workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant to vote on representation, but the automaker refused the move. However, in December 2015, the maintenance workers voted in favor of the union.

Source: New York Times

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