Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant is now a one-union facility as the automaker decertified the American Council of Employees.

The uncertainty surrounding the UAW’s status at Volkswagen AG’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, just got a little clearer today.

The automaker decertified the competing union at the plant, the American Council of Employees, saying it no longer had enough members – 15% of the workforce – to qualify for recognition by the company.

Volkswagen told workers the UAW was again verified as representing at least 45% of workers at the plant, qualifying the union for the top tier of the policy, which enables the UAW to interact regularly with management and have a meeting space within the plant.

According to reports, the UAW represents about 55% of the hourly workforce there with a membership of 816 people. However, despite that simple majority and the demise of the opposing organization, the automaker refuses to engage in collective bargaining with the UAW, claiming it doesn’t represent the entire plant, just a group of workers.

(Volkswagen appeals NLRB ruling. For more, Click Here.)

In fact, it appealed a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board, ordering it to bargain with the United Auto Workers. The UAW won a representation election among the maintenance workers at the Chattanooga plant this past December.

In its ruling, the NLRB said it found the company’s claim specious since a number of American courts have held that unions can represent only portion of the workers in a given workplace.

“As always, Volkswagen respects the right of all of our employees to decide the question of union representation. This is why we 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,” Volkswagen said in a statement at the time.

(UAW triumphs over VW with NLRB ruling. Click Here for the story.)

“We are disappointed that the NLRB declined to fully evaluate this important question. Therefore, Volkswagen has now filed an appeal to have this issue reviewed by the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit,” the company statement said.

The UAW said it was disappointed with the company’s decision and urged VW to open collective bargaining.

Gary Casteel, secretary-treasurer of the UAW and director of the International Union’s Transnational Department, said the appeal will not benefit Volkswagen employees at the Chattanooga plant.

(Click Here for more about the UAW securing promise from Clinton to rework NAFTA.)

“We’re disappointed that Volkswagen is continuing to thumb its nose at the federal government. The federal courts have consistently upheld the NLRB labor standard that enabled the skilled trades vote in Chattanooga,” Casteel said.