NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The United Auto Workers announced
Monday it is withdrawing an appeal of the outcome of a union vote at
Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Tennessee.
In a statement released
one hour before the scheduled start of a National Labor Relations Board
hearing in Chattanooga, Tenn., UAW President Bob King said the union
decided to put the "tainted election in the rearview mirror" because the
challenge could have taken months or even years to come to a
conclusion.
The UAW had filed its appeal with the National Labor
Relations Board after Volkswagen workers rejected the union in a 712-626
vote in February, arguing that public statements from U.S. Sen. Bob
Corker, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and other GOP officials raised fears
about the plant’s future if workers there organized.
Documents
also show Tennessee tied a $300 million incentive package to the
satisfactory outcome of the labor situation at the plant.
Corker and Haslam filed motions fighting subpoenas from the union to produce documents and appear at the
NLRB hearings.
"The
unprecedented political interference by Gov. Haslam, Sen. Corker and
others was a distraction for Volkswagen employees and a detour from
achieving Tennessee’s economic priorities," King said. "The UAW is ready
to put February’s tainted election in the rearview mirror and instead
focus on advocating for new jobs and economic investment in
Chattanooga."
The vote against the UAW was a setback to the
union’s goal of expanding into foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S.,
particularly those in the South.
The UAW says it will now focus on
a congressional investigation into an anti-unionization campaign by
Republican politicians and outside groups.
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