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Chattanooga Volkswagen workers vote against joining United Auto Workers

“Our employees have spoken."

Chattanooga Volkswagen workers rejected representation by the United Auto Workers.

Preliminary results show 776 employees voted to be represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and 833 employees voted against UAW representation.

During the secret ballot election, conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), 93 percent of the eligible employees voted. A total of 1,609 votes were cast during the three-day voting period from June 12-14.

This is the second time workers there have voted against unionizing.

In response, the UAW called on Congress for comprehensive labor law changes that 'made it almost impossible for Volkswagen workers to form a union.'

“The Company ran a brutal campaign of fear and misinformation,” UAW organizing director Tracy Romero said. "Over a period of nine weeks – an unprecedented length of time due to legal gamesmanship – Volkswagen was able to break the will of enough workers to destroy their majority.” 

Volkswagen Chattanooga's CEO said he will respect the majority decision, saying 'Our employees have spoken.'

“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,” said Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, in an email send to the WRCB Channel 3 newsroom. 

Fischer added the following:

“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.”

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