VW Workers Again Reject UAW at Tennessee Plant

Hourly workers at Volkswagen AG’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have again voted against having the United Auto Workers union represent them.

The ballot was 833 against unionization and 776 in favor, with 93% of eligible workers voting, according to VW. Final results will be certified several days from now by the National Labor Relations Board.

Workers at the factory rejected the UAW by an identical 53% margin in 2014 in a 712-626 no-vote. In both cases, VW maintained a neutral position. But Tennessee’s governor and others were vocal in arguing that workers would be better off with a direct relationship with VW.

The union did achieve a minor victory at the VW plant in 2015 when about 160 skilled trades workers agreed to accept the union. VW, which objected that bargaining with such a small group at Chattanooga would be disruptive for other workers, had suggested that the UAW hold another all-worker vote.

The union also failed in a highly contentious bid to organize Nissan Motor Co.’s assembly plant in Mississippi in 2017, losing a vote there by a 63% margin. After this last weekend’s defeat, the union declares that U.S. labor law is “broken” and “caters to clever lawyers” rather than serving workers.