The Patriot Post® · Around the Nation: UAW Closer to Unionizing Tennessee VW Plant

Generally when one thinks of automotive labor strife, it’s a picture of a rusty old car plant somewhere in the bowels of Detroit. But there’s now a push to unionize the workers in a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and it’s being backed by an unusual source: management.

Because of a German law that allows their union leaders up to half the seats on a “supervisory board” that dictates how production would be allocated, company leaders argue that, in order to have a better opportunity to benefit from any increases in production, workers will have to accept representation from the United Auto Workers union here in America. In June it was reported that a second assembly line for the plant was at stake, held hostage by the demand that the plant unionize.

Yet workers in this right-to-work state are cool to the demands. While UAW organizers like Gary Casteel claim support is there, they’re reluctant to push for a vote. “We know if we go for a traditional election where the outside organizations could campaign against us, we’d probably lose,” admitted Casteel. Instead, they’re attempting to deem the matter decided through the notoriously anti-democratic “card check” process. Casteel added, “We’ve determined we definitely have a majority of employees who favor this representation.” So they “have a majority,” but they’d “probably lose” an actual vote. Get it?

The UAW is very interested in how this process plays out as they eye other German automakers who own plants in the United States. If Volkswagen succumbs, BMW and Mercedes-Benz may follow suit. At stake are millions of dollars in coerced union dues that Big Labor can use to shore up failing pensions and reward friendly politicians. It’s not about the workers. It’s about the Benjamins.