Breaking: UAW Close to Recognition at Volkswagen

Posted by Matt Patterson on Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 at 12:49 pm - Permalink

In news that will surprise no one, The Associated Press is reporting that Volkswagen management is considering a change in policy that will allow the company to recognize the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the exclusive bargaining representative at VW's Chattanooga, Tennessee facility, in spite of the union having lost an election at the plant last February.

According to the AP:

"An upcoming policy change by Volkswagen would clear the way for the United Auto Workers to become the first union to bargain on behalf of employees at a foreign automaker in the South, the UAW said Monday.

Volkswagen and the union reached an agreement last spring, according to a letter to members of Local 42 in Chattanooga obtained by The Associated Press. The UAW said that it would cooperate with efforts to win production of a new SUV in Chattanooga, and that it would drop its National Labor Relations Board challenge of a February union vote.

In return, Volkswagen committed to recognizing the UAW, which would give 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."

To be clear:  The commitment of the company to allow this outside organization, which has decimated auto jobs in Detroit and left entire companies and cities bankrupt, is a betrayal of the VW workers who gave a loud and clear "No!" to the UAW, by a vote of 712 to 626.

It is also a betrayal of the community, whose mostly-conservative residents and representatives were never told that the price for their new auto plant was allowing the Big Government-supporting, Obama-loving UAW into their midst.

It's not rare that a union uses sneaky, under-handed tactics to bully their way into companies, regardless of the wishes of the workers they claim to represent.  What's rare is that the company would be complicit in such duplicity.

Shame on Volkswagen.