VW workers to vote in April on joining UAW
Volkswagen AG employees in Tennessee will vote next month on whether to join the United Auto Workers, a crucial test for the recently reinvigorated labor group.
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board will hold an election at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant from April 17 through 19, the agency said Monday, after the union and the company reached agreement on terms such as who would be eligible to vote. The UAW has said it signed up a “supermajority” of the more than 4,000 employees there. If a majority of voters cast ballots in favor of unionizing next month, and the agency certifies the result, Volkswagen would be required to recognize and collectively bargain with the UAW.
The Tennessee plant is a pivotal target for the UAW, which scored record contract victories following a six-week strike last fall against Detroit’s Big Three automakers. The UAW has
been trying to translate that success into new organizing wins at 13 companies’ nonunion U.S. plants.
The VW effort is the first of those campaigns to be slated for a vote.
“Hopefully we’re the first domino that falls, and we see that movement carry on,” VW employee Isaac Meadows, a member of the union’s organizing committee, said last week. “I want to see us go first so that we can set an example.”
In an emailed statement, Volkswagen said it welcomed the election: “We fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy on this important decision.
Volkswagen employees in Germany are covered by a union contract and elect members to a works council that has a say in decision making. But the UAW has accused the company of violating labor laws in the U.S., filing complaints with the NLRB alleging that the company restricted union discussions and retaliated against an employee for union activism. The company has denied wrongdoing and said it supports its workers’ rights.
“Volkswagen is proud of our working environment in Chattanooga that provides some of the best paying jobs in the area,” the company said Monday.