NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Expansion talks at Volkswagen’s
lone U.S. plant have ground to a halt amid disagreements about the role
of organized labor at the factory in Tennessee.
An acrimonious vote in February at the plant in Chattanooga resulted in the narrow defeat of the United
Auto Workers union.
Since
then, the union has challenged the outcome of the vote with the
National Labor Relations Board; a top labor representative on
Volkswagen’s supervisory board told Chattanooga workers that U.S. Sen.
Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam "interfered outrageously" in the
election; and the governor has suggested that the state has been unable
to engage in negotiations with a VW official with final decision-making
power.
State incentives for expanding the plant would have to be
approved by the state Legislature, which is preparing to adjourn for the
year in the next few weeks. But Haslam told reporters last week that
there were no active talks with the German automaker.
The
governor’s comments came in the aftermath of revelations that the
state’s $300 million incentive package offered to Volkswagen in August
contained the caveat that the money was subject to labor talks "being
concluded to the satisfaction" of the state.
Haslam, who opposes
the UAW gaining a foothold at its first foreign automaker in the South,
declined to specify which scenarios would meet the state’s satisfaction.
Volkswagen
wants to create a German-style works council at the Chattanooga plant
to represent both salaried and blue-collar workers. But the company has
said its interpretation of U.S. law requires the involvement of an
independent union, which led the company to call for the union vote
after the UAW announced it had obtained the signatures of more than half
of the plant’s workers in support of representation.
Corker, who
was Chattanooga mayor before being elected to the Senate, was a leading
opponent of the UAW. He drew the ire of the UAW for repeatedly
suggesting that a vote against the union would result in the company
deciding to expand the plant within two weeks.
Labor
representatives on Volkswagen’s supervisory board were "indignant at the
strong attempts made by outside forces to influence the outcome" of the
vote, Bernd Osterloh, the head the company’s global works council, said
in a letter read to all the workers at the Chattanooga plant 10 days
after the vote.
"Local Republican politicians such as Mr. Corker
and Mr. Haslam interfered outrageously with the ballot," said Osterloh,
who reiterated the company position that only economic factors would
decide whether the plant would be expanded.
"We want you to see
that people like Mr. Corker can have no influence over the decisions
made by an international group," Osterloh said.
By German law,
labor representatives make up half of the company’s 20-member
supervisory board, meaning they have veto power over major management
initiatives including the expansion or construction of plants.
Haslam
appeared to allude to competing aims of management and labor interests
at the company when he told reporters last week that the state has asked
VW to present an official with decision-making power to engage in
talks.
"We finally said we need to talk to somebody who can speak
finally for the company," he said. "I said, we’re ready to have those
conversations, and they said we’ll get back to you at the appropriate
time. And that time hasn’t happened yet."
An anti-union group
Monday raised concerns that Volkswagen could move to recognize the UAW
even without revote. The Center for Worker Freedom said in a release
that that would be a "betrayal" of the workers at the plant who voted
712-626 against the union in February.
"If the company lets the
union walk in anyway, it will have made clear its contempt not only for
its workers and the state of Tennessee, but the democratic principle
itself," Matt Patterson, the group’s executive director, said in the
release.
A Volkswagen spokesman did not return a message seeking
comment. Gary Casteel, a regional director for the UAW, said he would
not respond to "idle speculation by anti-union groups."
"The UAW
has a good relationship with Volkswagen and its works council
leadership," Casteel said in an email "Volkswagen operates with a high
level of integrity and has deep respect for workers’ rights."
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