The UAW appears to be another step closer to being recognized at VW's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Despite losing a plant-wide election earlier this year, the United Auto Workers may end up representing the employees at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee due to a change in the automaker’s policy.
The yet-to-be-released policy modification is expected to determine how labor groups at the plant will dealt with in the future. The UAW believes the change means it will be recognized as the bargaining partner for all hourly employees in the facility whether they are formal members of the union or not.
The UAW says more that half the workers have agreed to be represented by its newly formed Local 42.
However, the American Council of Employees (ACE), which is a group of employees that do not want to be part of the UAW and was instrumental in dealing a 712-626 defeat in the vote to organize earlier this year, claims the UAW is puffing up its membership numbers.
Volkswagen and the union reached an agreement last spring, according to the letter obtained by The Associated Press. The UAW agreed to help with efforts to win production of the new CrossBlue in Chattanooga, and drop its National Labor Relations Board challenge of the February union vote. Volkswagen announced in July that it will invest $600 million to expand the factory to build the new SUV.
The automaker, in return, committed to recognizing the UAW, giving it the authority to bargain on behalf of both members and non-members, according to the letter signed by Mike Cantrell and Steve Cochran, the president and vice president of Local 42.
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Sean Moss, the interim president of ACE, claims the UAW’s membership claims are exaggerated and that his group is gaining in popularity. He believes the UAW is exaggerating its strength and that more employees are falling in line with ACE.
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“What we’re offering is to have the local employees in the local plant dictate their own path moving forward,” Moss said. “There’s no interest coming from Detroit, there’s no interest coming from Washington. Everything is going to be centered on the plant.”
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The UAW has spent decades attempting to get into the non-union plants of the Southeast. Getting a foothold in Chattanooga could be a springboard into success in other plants run by Kia, Nissan, Honda and Toyota that dot the part of the country.
I find it odd and unfair that workers who desire not to be represented by a union, get to enjoy the same benefits awarded to union members through collective bargaining. It doesn’t make sense IMO. Either you want the bargaining power of the union or you don’t. If you don’t that’s fine but you should not automatically get the same benefits unless you collectively bargain with the company yourself to obtain these benefits. That is precisely the point of having union representation or not.
The so called “right to work” laws that some states have passed are nothing more than union busting laws that are likely to be overturned. They don’t protect workers at all. In fact they lower the worker’s bargaining power and typically the worker’s compensation so the state or big business can reap the financial benefits. Unions are a balancing device for unscrupulous government and business. If all parties act ethically and responsibly you wouldn’t need unions, but history shows this is rarely the case, thus unions still exist to protect the workers from the unscrupulous.
I also understand that in rare instances unions gain too much power and then exploit businesses but that is far less frequent than business exploiting the workers.