UAW files labor charges against VW plant in Tennessee

The United Auto Workers union has filed labor charges against Volkswagen, accusing the German automaker of refusing to bargain a contract for a small group of unionized workers at the company’s plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The UAW organized 161 skilled trades workers at the plant this month after a previous attempt to organize the full workforce of about 1,450 last year was unsuccessful.

The UAW has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

Gary Casteel, secretary-treasurer of the UAW and director of the union’s Transnational Department, said the labor relations board has determined the skilled trades employees constitute a legal collective bargaining unit.

“Volkswagen’s skilled trades employees voted overwhelmingly to designate UAW Local 42 as their representative for the purposes of entering into collective bargaining,” Casteel said in a statement, referring to the Dec. 4 vote. “Following this month’s election, we were hopeful that the company would accept the results and recommit to the principles of social responsibility that made Volkswagen a respected global brand,” Casteel said. “Instead, Volkswagen has refused to come to the bargaining table in violation of federal law. By refus- ing to engage in collective bargaining after a successful election, Volkswagen is not only doing a disservice to its employees but now is thumbing its nose at the federal government as well.”

Organizing the skilled trades was seen as a high-profile victory and the first clear-cut win at an automotive assembly plant in the South. VW tried to stop the election because it did not want only a portion of its workforce covered by a union contract.