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VW Plant Workers in Tenn. to Refile Petition to Join Union

The United Auto Workers union says workers at Volkswagen AG’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have been asked to submit a new petition for a union election.
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The United Auto Workers union says workers at Volkswagen AG’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have been asked to submit a new petition for a union election.

The UAW lost a bitterly contested vote at the plant in 2014 by an 87-vote margin. The union blamed the defeat on a virulent anti-union campaign backed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker.

A year later about 160 skilled trades workers at the factory voted to be represented by the UAW. Volkswagen resisted the result, arguing that negotiating a contract with such a small group would the disruptive to the rest of its workforce. The NLRB ordered VW in 2016 to bargain with the UAW on behalf of the group.

Last month the union launched a new attempt to represent all 1,700 hourly employees at the Chattanooga facility, including skilled trades workers and regular part-time hourly staff.

NLRB, which initially rejected that petition, now suggests that workers re-file. Reuters notes that the turnabout comes one day after three Democratic U.S. senators urged VW to stop trying to delay an election.

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