Three Democratic U.S. Senators have written a letter calling on Chattanooga Volkswagen to allow the United Auto Workers to go ahead with a vote on unionizing the entire plant.
VW recently obtained a delay from the National Labor Relations Board, citing a need to first complete a challenge to a smaller group at the plant that earlier voted in the UAW.
Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, of Michigan, and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, expressed "deep concern with delays."
The letter, which went to Scott Keogh, president of Volkswagen Group of America, said, "We urge you to immediately drop any efforts to oppose or postpone the election."
Southern Momentum, an anti-UAW group, responded by quoting VW Chattanooga team member Rob Berger as saying, “The UAW likes to complain about ‘outsiders’ when our own elected leaders fight for the people they actually represent, yet the Detroit-based union has now convinced three senators to join them in attacking our local company and to meddle in our business.
We are not interested in becoming Detroit or aligning ourselves with a corrupt union, and we certainly do not need outsiders from Michigan and Ohio telling us what is best for our community.”
Attorney Maury Nicely, said, Maybe when three senators who have no business meddling in our state weigh in, they should check the facts. The fact is that the UAW tried to stifle the voices of workers by demanding recognition without a vote. It was the company that protected the employees’ right to vote. Federal labor law clearly states that a new election cannot be held at a plant with an unresolved election pending before the National Labor Relations Board, so the UAW is either incompetent or is intentionally misleading workers with false claims about the company blocking a vote. The company is not blocking a vote, it is simply following federal labor law.”