Fox News reporter Rick Edson reports on the Chattanooga Volkswagen union vote from the riverfront on Monday afternoon. The vote in which the UAW lost has drawn widespread attention.
photo by Mark Herndon
Officials of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) said Republicans and special interest groups "have hit a new low in infringing on workers’ basic legal right to organize in their shameful interference with the Volkswagen workers’ National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election in Chattanooga."
ATU International President Larry Hanley said, “We are outraged at the shameful tactics Senator Corker, Governor Haslam and their billionaire and special interest buddies employed to squelch the legal right of these Volkswagen workers to form a labor union. Corker’s claims that a new Volkswagen product would be built in Chattanooga if workers voted against joining the UAW was a politically motivated threat to the economic future of these workers and their families.”
The ATU praised Volkswagen and I G Metall "for remaining neutral in the union vote, respecting the workers’ rights and their freedom to make a decision."
Mr. Hanley said, “We must work hard to change the tone of the American conversation on the rights of workers and I look forward to vigorous discussion in the coming days at the AFL-CIO Winter meetings. Americans cannot sit silent and let these deplorable actions continue. We must join together and fight back against these anti-worker forces.”
Meanwhile, Fox News was in Chattanooga to focus on the story. Click here to see the story.
An afternoon filming was underway at the riverfront.