Volkswagen Accused of Unfair Labor Practices at Tennessee Plant
The National Labor Relations Board has again accused Volkswagen of unfair labor practices, stating the automaker increased health insurance premiums and altered working hours of employees who voted for union representation at its Chattanooga, Tennessee factory.
The facility — VW’s only U.S. assembly plant — produces the Passat and new Atlas SUV. A small portion of skilled-trade employees voted in 2015 to be represented by the United Auto Workers, but VW is claiming they shouldn’t speak for the entire workforce.
However, the NLRB says the UAW’s collective-bargaining rights for the select workers who maintain the plant’s automated machinery can’t be superseded by the federal appeals court case.
“Wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment of the Unit … are mandatory subjects for the purposes of collective bargaining,” reads the complaint.
UAW Local 42 President Steve Cochran alleges Volkswagen made the change of having skilled-trades employees assume eight-hour shifts instead of the previous twelve without any consultation.
“If they don’t need us to work 12-hour shifts, well that’s great. Let’s sit down and bargain about it,” Cochran said. “We’ll work something out that’s best for the company and for the workers.”
Volkswagen addressed the matter through plant spokesman Scott Wilson.
“We fundamentally disagree with the decision to separate Volkswagen maintenance and production workers and will continue our effort to allow everyone to vote as one group on the matter of union representation,” Wilson said in an email. “Until the court makes a decision on this matter, we are unable to bargain with the UAW without compromising our legal argument.”
VW’s refusal to bargain remains in direct opposition to the NLRB’s assertion that the 160 represented maintenance workers share a community of interests with the rest of the assembly plant employees. Its preference is to establish a German-style works council that would represent both salaried and hourly employees. However, this requires the involvement of an independent union under U.S. law.
The UAW has never managed to win an organizing vote in any foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the the Southern United Sates. It’s clearly desperate for a victory here, even a small one, if it helps reinforce its might. Currently, the U.S. employees are the only VW factory workers not covered by formal labor agreements.
Steven Bernstein, a Tampa-based labor attorney at Fisher Phillips LLP, explained to Reuters the NLRB complaint will likely be followed by others in a legal process that could take several years to conclude. “VW is rolling the dice and betting they will eventually get relief through the courts,” he said.
Volkswagen doesn’t have much to gain by bending to the UAW. Even if the courts force the company to compensate the skilled workers in Chattanooga, it could postpone playing ball for several years and defer any growth in union strength.
VW has until May 24th to issue a formal response to the complaint.
[Image: Volkswagen Group]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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VW's labor management activities in Tennessee remind me of other things that appear in the news. Regardless of what they do, it won't be "enough," or it will be "the wrong thing to do." It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. It's the classic "Your troubles with the UAW will miraculously go away once you let them organize your plant." Anyway, VW has much bigger fish to fry right now.
UAW should focus on the bigger problem- all the folks working on contract, basically absolving the automakers of all liability. They take that freedom to turn up the wick on expectations, throwing safety out the window. People are dying and getting seriously hurt as a result, often for no reason other than a lack of safety training. But UAW cares about dues and bargaining power, not workers.