Chattanooga Works Council: UAW Breakthrough Or Defeat?

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

News of Volkswagen being open to establishing a works counci l at its plant in Chattanooga are widely interpreted as the UAW getting a long-sought nose under the southern tent. It could also be a shrewd move to block the union.

First, the facts: Horst Neumann, VW’s board member in charge of human resources, told reporters on Friday that Volkswagen was “in talks with the UAW about setting up a German-style labor board at the Tennessee plant,” Reuters says. IAW President Bob King is all in favor and said that “the UAW is very interested in the specific model that VW wants to present in the months ahead, and we are looking forward to open, fair and respectful dialogue.” Little else is known.

Now, for some background:

  • A works council or labor board is not a union. It is a German construct, and acts as the representation of the employees. Members of the works council are elected by the employees. The works council has rights provided by German law.
  • Horst Neumann is a member of the German Metal Worker Union IG Metall. The HR-Chief or “Arbeitsdirektor” of a large German company represents the workers and usually the unions on the Board of Management.
  • Works councils of large German automakers have spread to Europe, and it is known that they want to spread globally.
  • Workers at Volkswagen Chattanooga usually are opposed to the UAW. Reuters cites a meeting of March last year, where a worker, addressing the crowd in a meeting, said the plant did not need a union, which was met with loud applause and cheers. However, it is also known that workers in Chattanooga would like to have a works council just like in Germany.

Establishing a German-style works council in the U.S. without the protection of German labor laws would basically turn it into a lobbying group of the workers. It does not necessarily mean that the UAW can run or even co-opt it. Neumann already said that the UAW is not the only option.

Harley Shaiken, a University of California-Berkeley labor studies professor, said that such an agreement could spread to Japanese and South Korean-owned U.S. plants.

Establishing works councils could also be a blocking move: If workers have their elected representation, they will even less need a union.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Commando Commando on Mar 19, 2013

    Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer...

  • VWTRUTH VWTRUTH on Mar 21, 2013

    This story and most of the comments are so full of holes its ridiculous. I have been at this plant for 3 years and was at the meeting when there was supposedly "loud cheers and applause". I beg to differ. If you herd 1500 people into a hot stifling building and someone stand up and says "we dont need no union up in here", and 500 of the sadly misinformed clap and cheer sure its going to be loud. Loud in this situation does not represent the mindset of the majority of workers at this plant. I assure you we need representation and you can bet we are going to get it.

    • 95_SC 95_SC on Jun 24, 2013

      Hasn't it been voted down there or has it not come to a vote yet?

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