UAW seeks new VW Chattanooga vote in June

The United Auto Workers on Wednesday filed a new petition for a union vote at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant after the National Labor Relations Board dismissed an earlier request.

Brian Rothenberg of UAW International said the NLRB directed the board’s Atlanta office to dismiss the original election petition filed on April 9.

But, he said, the board indicated that the UAW could immediately file a new petition and it did so seeking a vote among VW Chattanooga production and maintenance workers.

The new petition requests a vote on June 12, 13 and 14.

Volkswagen said in a statement that it will work with the NLRB to schedule an election.

“We respect our colleagues’ right to decide on representation,” said the automaker. “The company has always maintained that a proper vote should include production and maintenance employees, and that legal issues surrounding the maintenance-only unit should have been resolved before the union filed a petition to represent the entire production and maintenance group.”

Dan Gilmore, who teaches labor law at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said it appears as if the hold-ups to an election now no longer exist.

But, he added, while VW says it’s neutral, it’s not acting as the company did in 2014 when it and the UAW had an agreement for that union election.

said on the conference call Wednesday. “Unfortunately, those that are ceding share that have not been able to invest and evolved to the new consumer environment.”

But there are threats looming for all retailers right now, even high performers like Target. Escalating trade fights and rising tariffs could lead to price hikes and that could handcuff stellar growth.

The trade fight being pursued by the Trump administration comes at a time when big retailers are spending heavily to speed deliveries to customers who now expect to get what they ordered online at their doorstep in a day or two. They are also raising pay for thousands of employees to improve the shopping experience in stores that they are spending billions to modernize.

Walmart launched free next-day delivery on its most popular items this month in Phoenix and Las Vegas. It plans to roll out next-day delivery to most of the country by year-end, covering 220,000 items with a minimum order of $35. The announcement was made two weeks after Amazon said it would upgrade its free shipping for members from the standard two-day delivery, to one day. Target requires a $35 threshold for two-day delivery.

Target is spending more than $7 billion through 2020 to update its stores, open smaller stores in urban areas and expand its online operations. Stores remain the center of its online operations, fulfilling 80% of all online orders.

The company lets shoppers pick up online orders curbside at 1,250 stores. Through Shipt, which it purchased in December 2017, shoppers can get deliveries to their doorstep in a few hours with a monthly or annual subscription fee.

At the same time, Target must remain focused on the most crucial aspect of retailing, a lineup of goods that people want to buy. This spring it launched three new exclusive brands in bras, underwear and sleepwear— Auden, Stars Above and Colsie — as it joins other retailers to take on Victoria’s Secret, which is floundering.

Target Corp. reported profits of $795 million, or $1.53 per share, beating Wall Street expectations by a dime, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue was $17.63 billion, also beating forecasts.

Target expects its pershare earnings this quarter of between $1.52 and $1.72, and full-year earnings in the range of $5.75 to $6.05 per share.

Shares jumped nearly 8%, or $5.60, to close at $77.56 Wednesday.