UAW election by set of Volkswagen Tennessee workers upheld by NLRB

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:07pm EDT

UAW election by set of Volkswagen Tennessee workers upheld by NLRB

BY BERNIE WOODALL

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board voted 2-1 to uphold a December election by a small group of workers at Volkswagen AG's (VOWG_p.DE) Tennessee plant to join the United Auto Workers, the NLRB announced on Wednesday.

VW had asked for a review of the election involving about 160 of the plant's workers, who are skilled trades employees, in which 71 percent voted to join the UAW. The plant has a total hourly workforce of about 1,400 workers.

The UAW will now see if it has additional leverage to press VW to agree to come to the negotiating table for the 160 skilled trades workers, members of UAW Local 42 in Chattanooga, to bargain on wages and benefits.

Officially, the NLRB voted to keep in place a regional director's ruling that affirmed the December election by the skilled trades workers.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-uaw-idUSKCN0XA1WU

[Eleanors38]

1. IIRC, VW was not all that opposed to unionization of plant rank & file in past elections...

The opposition seemed to come from well-funded anti-union organizations whose stake in this matter was ideological.

[Human101948]

2. I thought VW was supportive of union organizing?

Maybe this explains it?

Broadening the potential impact of Volkswagen's appeal of the union election at its Chattanooga plant, three national business groups are supporting VW and worry the case's legal standard could cripple employers.
If the election that approved a so-called micro-unit of workers at the plant is allowed to stand, it would encourage unions to repeat it in thousands of other factories, a legal brief to the National Labor Relations Board said.

Such small bargaining units could cause "endless negotiations, conflicting union demands and contract obligations, and burdensome administrative duties," the brief said.

The groups, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, said they represent hundreds of thousands of companies in a variety of business sectors in all 50 states.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/jan/09/business-groups-support-vw-appeal-uaw-vote-ch/343777/