Anti-Union Group at VW’s Chattanooga Loses Favored Status

An employee group set up two years ago to oppose unionization efforts at Volkswagen AG’s plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., has lost its recognition status with the company, Reuters reports.

The America Council of Employees was set up shortly after the United Auto Workers union lost a close vote to represent the factory’s 1,500 hourly workers. VW agreed to allow both groups to hold meetings in the plant and have access to senior management if they could gain enough workers as members.

The UAW has attracted at least 45% of the Chattanooga plant workers through a local office it set up after losing the 2014 vote. But VW said on Thursday that ACE membership has dwindled to less than 15% of the workforce, thereby dropping below the minimum for recognition by the carmaker. The founders of ACE are no longer employed at the factory, according to Reuters.

The UAW has not attempted another plantwide vote to organize the facility. But the plant’s 160 skilled trades workers voted in December to join the UAW. VW so far has refused to bargain with the group, saying it would prefer to have the union represent all workers at the factory.