Chattanooga Volkswagen employees narrowly rejected representation by the United Auto Workers.
The vote was 833 against UAW and 776 for UAW.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann said, “I am pleased that workers at the Volkswagen plant voted to preserve their ability to deal directly with their employer.
"There are many reasons I was concerned about the impact of the Michigan-based United Auto Workers union making East Tennessee their foothold in the South – most notably being their track record of failure in Detroit.
"Additionally, I believe that direct communication between workers and employers is best without the burdensome red tape historically imposed by unions. I sincerely hope that after this third failed attempt to unionize, this issue will not rise again, and Tennessee can continue to use its status as a right-to-work state to be an economic leader in the region and across the nation.”
Officials said, "VWGoA’s Chattanooga employees have now concluded their voting in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to decide upon union representation.
"The preliminary results are as follows:
776 employees voted to be represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and 833 employees voted against UAW representation.
93 percent of the eligible employees voted during the election. A total of 1609 votes were cast during the three-day voting period from June 12-14."
Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, said, “On behalf of Volkswagen, I want to thank all of our Chattanooga production and maintenance employees for their participation in this week's vote on the question of union representation.
“Our employees have spoken. Pending certification of the results by the NLRB and a legal review of the election, Volkswagen will respect the decision of the majority.
"We look forward to continuing our close cooperation with elected officials and business leaders in Tennessee. We chose Chattanooga to build our American production facility for a number of reasons, but in particular because of the quality of the workforce, the commitment of the business community, and the support and investments by state and local governments.
"As we have said throughout this process, our commitment to Tennessee is a long-term investment and central to the success of VW America. We look forward to working with the State of Tennessee, Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga to support job creation, growth, and economic development today and into the future.”