Workers under siege by the United Auto Workers (UAW) at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant have been denied the opportunity to voice opposition to the union, the Center for Worker Freedom has learned.

On Friday morning VW workers delivered a letter to management in which they expressed dismay that the company had reportedly allowed representatives from IG Metall — the German union that strongly supports the UAW’s effort to organize in Chattanooga —  to meet with employees at the VW facility. Therefore, the workers in their letter requested:

“…to be allowed to use Company meeting facilities between February 3 and February 6, so that we may invite team members before and after work to discuss alternative forms of worker representation.”

The workers requested an answer by 3:00 p.m. Friday Jan. 31 and received a negative response.

In addition, the workers requested in a separate letter access to the same list of workers eligible to vote in an election that the union will have access to should an election petition be filed, the so-called Excelsior list which includes names and contact information. This request, too, was denied.

Center for Worker Freedom Executive Director Matt Patterson responded to the news:

“Volkswagen workers opposed to UAW representation have been shut down by management in a blatant attempt to grease the union’s move into the company. Barack Obama’s NLRB will now pile on; we can expect an announcement that a petition has been filed for an election at any time. Doubtless workers will be barraged by UAW materials in the coming weeks, while being denied the opportunity to hear the other side. That's not fair, and that's not right - workers should have all the facts so they can make an informed decision about unionization."

Further, Patterson wondered what kind of organization needs to collude with government and company officials in order to gain power, as appears to be the case here:

         “The UAW has a long history of crippling the auto industry in Detroit, as well as spending millions to elect the kind of radical, left-wing politicians that have busted city, state and national budgets. The union doesn't want workers to have the opportunity to learn this history, and apparently neither does Volkswagen."