Union loses on Volkswagen while Chattanooga workers vote down UAW bid

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported the wrong number of votes against the association as 863 and the number of workers on the site as 1,659. These figures are corrected to 833 and 1,609, respectively.

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Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga voted against the representation of the United Auto Workers Union.

Among 1,609 workers who cast elections this week in the unionization vote, 833 voted against the Union and 776 voted for the UAW. [19659002] "On behalf of Volkswagen, I would like to thank all of our Chattanooga manufacturing and maintenance staff for their participation in this week's vote on the issue of union," said Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, in a statement tonight. "Our employees have spoken. Waiting for certification of the NLRB results and a legal review of the election, Volkswagen will respect the majority's decision. "

UAW immediately challenged the union's process, claiming it was" almost impossible for Volkswagen workers to form a union "in Chattanooga

UAW spokesman Brian Rothenburg on Friday night urged the Congress to take a comprehensive look at the country's labor laws and NLRB rules "required for labor to organize at a production facility such as VW. [1[ads1]9659002] "VW workers defended a system where they themselves refused to negotiate, even when they voted," Rothenberg said. "Volkswagen was apparently able to delay maintenance negotiations and, ultimately, this vote among all production and maintenance workers through legal games before they can undermine the vote."

Although UAW has now lost twice in unionization elections of all factory production employees in both 2014 And again this week, complained that the company refused to recognize a smaller unit of the plant when workers voted three and a half years ago to join the UAW.

Tracy Romero, organizational director of the UAW, said she was proud of Chattanooga Volkswagen workers in the face of the fears they experienced.

"The company ran a brutal campaign of fear and misinformation," Romero said.

Romero indicated that the UAW intends to ask for help from VW supervisors in Europe to protect Chattanooga workers from any retaliation. "Chattanooga workers deserve the right to vote and deserve the right to be treated fairly, and we want Wolfsburg to do so."

While political interference and high group spending contributed to the loss, Rothenberg said the current state of US labor laws made the Volkswagen effort particularly difficult.

By law, VW workers must wait a year before deciding on the next step.

"Finally, this has always been about Chattanooga workers who are the only VW workers in the world without a union," said Chattanooga UAW Local 42, director Steve Cochran. "If people wonder why the middle class disappears in this country, it's because it's almost impossible for workers to access collective bargaining."

The result comes after an attack on television, radio, printing and digital advertising that flooded the area over the past few weeks.

The range of ads sought to get support from some 1,700 VW manufacturing and skilled workers who were eligible to vote in the elections.

VW trade unions had the opportunity to negotiate with the company on issues such as health and safety, working conditions, paid retirement and strengthening of pension plans.

Perry Kyle, who has worked for VW for over seven years, said he was employed in a union shop before and it "benefits an ordinary person like me."

Anti-union workers had said they did not need the Detroit-based UAW to speak for them when they already have a voice on the facility. They criticized the UAW for the ongoing federal corruption probe in the Union, and for what they felt were unfair attacks by the UAW and its supporter against the automaker.

Mary Morrison, an eight-year-old quality control employee, said the union was just not necessary and that "I don't want it in the door."

The Chattanooga VW plant assembles the Passat medium sized sedan and Atlas SUV, with approx. 3,500 employees. This week's vote was the third professional election in five years from the factory.

In 2014, UAW lost a choice with a margin of 712-626. About a year later, a small group of skilled professionals approved the Union by a vote of 108-44.

But the company refused to negotiate with the unit and said it would be a vote from all production and maintenance workers. Last month, the Union failed the smaller group and the National Labor Union approved the association's petition for the new election.

Tennessee government Bill Lee said he was going to "take what is happening and move on. Take the situation we have and work on to ensure that Volkswagen remains an important piece of who we are and that strength is evolved on. a way that helps them continue to expand. "

Some Hamilton County lawmakers had said that a union victory would make it harder to get approval of future VW incentive packages.

"I have not paid much attention to it," said the governor. "I think we need to get one thing behind us before we know – see how this poll turns out, and then we start thinking about the future."

According to NLRB, some party may oppose the execution of the election or to behaviors that affect the results within seven days.

Work Processor Chattanooga Dan Gilmore noted that the UAW in 2014 had protested against comments from US-Senator Bob Corker and former government Bill Haslam.

Volkswagen said during this year's campaign that it would remain "neutral," but said it could "achieve more for the company and its team by continuing an open dialogue that we have successfully done so far."

"Nevertheless, we respect workers' rights to decide on representation, and we will respect the decision of our team," the company said.

The union has tried to reverse decades of wear within its ranks. The UAW has only about a quarter of the membership in 1979 when the UAW had over 1.5 million members.

Last year, UAW lost more than 35,000 members, a decline of 9 percent, said Detroit News, citing documents filed with the US Department of Labor.

The trade union said in the archives that it had 395,703 members in 2018, down from 430,871 it had in 2017. Last year was the first time in nine years united the association membership since its rankings reached a low of 355191 in 2009 during the Great recession.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.