Earlier this month workers at VW’s Tennessee plant voted down joining the UAW by a count of 712-to-626, but the union claims the outcome would have been different had it not been for anti-union campaigns run by outside entities.
The appeal specifically calls out U.S. Senator Bob Corker, who publicly promised that the Chattanooga plant would be chosen to build a new SUV if workers rejected the UAW’s bid for representation.
“Senator Corker’s conduct was shameful and undertaken with utter disregard for the rights of the citizens of Tennessee and surrounding states that work at Volkswagen,” the objection states. “The clear message of the campaign was that voting for the union would result in stagnation for the Chattanooga plant, with no new product, no job security, and withholding of state support for its expansion.”
UAW president Bob King also voiced his displeasure with Corker, along with some of the state’s other elected officials.
“It’s an outrage that politically motivated third parties threatened the economic future of this facility and the opportunity for workers to create a successful operating model that that would grow jobs in Tennessee,” said King. “It is extraordinary interference in the private decision of workers to have a U.S. senator, a governor and leaders of the state legislature threaten the company with the denial of economic incentives and workers with a loss of product. We’re committed to standing with the Volkswagen workers to ensure that their right to have a fair vote without coercion and interference is protected.”
The UAW is desperately trying to convert at least one southern factory owned by a transplant automaker to help stem its sliding membership.
The NLRB will review the UAW’s appeal and determine if a re-vote is necessary.
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