VW Works Council May Block New Southern U.S. Expansion Without Unionization
Should Volkswagen’s workers in Chattanooga, Tenn. not be allowed to unionize — with or without the United Auto Workers — the automaker’s works council may veto any plan to expand VW’s presence in the Southeastern United States.
Reuters reports VW Works Council head and supervisory board member Bernd Osterloh said his council would be wary to vote on expansion “if co-determination isn’t guaranteed in the first place”:
I can imagine fairly well that another VW factory in the United States, provided that one more should still be set up there, does not necessarily have to be assigned to the south again.
The recent UAW vote in VW’s Chattanooga plant failed by a close margin under anti-union campaigns led by Tennessee conservative politicians such as U.S. Senator and former Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker, whose comments regarding the automaker awarding the factory a mid-size SUV upon rejection of the UAW brought President Barack Obama into the fray.
In spite of the voting results, the works council will press forward in bringing about organization to the factory, one of the few VW factories in the world without the labor relations structure.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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So we have UAW intimidating employees, and IG metall saying no new products if the plant doesn't support their ideals... Yet the lawmakers are the bad guys because they didnt originally agree to fund something that would be counterproductive to their state? How can anyone possibly redicule Tennessee for protecting their interests?
If VW doesn't start building products North American consumers actually want, at a quality level they expect, with content and materials that are class competitive, and pricing them properly (up or down depending on the product) they have way bigger problems than 2,000 workers in Tennessee at each other's throats over a union - or the motherland works council saying no more cars for Tennessee. Of course if they keep on their current path, and VW eventually walks away from Tennessee due to falling sales volumes and costs of building in 'Merica - you know the wails will be it was the union's fault.
I've pretty much said my peace on the matter. The fight wages on and frankly I'll be watching and waiting. VW's labor side has made it clear they weren't happy with politicians interfering with threats and actually under NLRA rules that is grounds for a re-vote since he named 'VW officials' in his statement. He was in a position of authority and used it inappropriately. But I digress, what VW decides to do is their business and I see no reason not to punish workers who abandon their own interests in the name of petty ideology that actually hurts them.
What about China? Is IG bullying the chinese into unionizing? No, they are not. So IG is full of BS.