A union said Thursday that Volkswagen isn’t hiring enough local workers in building the automaker’s Chattanooga assembly plant, a charge the company denied.
Tom Owens, director of marketing and communications for the AFL-CIO’s building and construction trades department in Washington, D.C., said in an e-mail that many construction contracts are being awarded to out-of-state contractors bringing their own work forces.
He said out-of-state workers are “displacing Tennessee skilled craft workers who would like nothing more that an opportunity to work on the VW plant’s construction.”
Mr. Owens also said “a significant number” of workers on the construction site are illegal immigrants. “Some of our folks out on the job tell us that many of the Hispanic workers are using Mexican drivers licenses as ID,” Mr. Owens said.
However, VW spokeswoman April Wortham said the automaker is committed to working with local companies.
She said that as of Thursday, the amount of contracts awarded to Tennessee or Chattanooga area companies is $437.1 million.
“One of the reasons that Volkswagen chose Chattanooga is the availability of a well-qualified local work force,” she said. “We do not discriminate against local companies who may employ workers from the local labor shed, which naturally includes neighboring states such as Alabama and Georgia.”
In addition, she said, it is not only federal law but a Volkswagen requirement that all contractors and subcontractors maintain legal documentation for workers on the site.
“All of our contractors and subcontractors have confirmed to us in writing that all of their workers are documented,” she said.
Mike Pare, the deputy Business editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, has worked at the paper for 27 years. In addition to editing, Mike also writes Business stories and covers Volkswagen, economic development and manufacturing in Chattanooga and the surrounding area. In the past he also has covered higher education. Mike, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida Atlantic University. he worked at the Rome News-Tribune before ...
The Mafia always covered their trail with fake enterprises. All of the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS realize that many "subcontractors" are organized exclusively to hire ILLEGALS while they insist on seeking out these "subcontractors" and they use their supposed "ignorance" of the "subcontractor’s" hiring practices to "end run" the law. Construction, Oil Refineries, Retailers, and many others use the services of "subcontractors" to secure their "cheap labor" at the expense of United States Citizens. As long as the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS are able to claim ignorance of the law without penalty they will maintain their effort to secure “cheap labor” resulting in the ILLEGALS continuing to scurry across our unsecured national borders.
Hmm, I'm confused. I thought part of the deal for bringing Vw to Chatta' was that Sen. Corker would show them how to hire undocumented(illegal) workers. Geez, I hope this doesn't mean more taxpayer money will have to be given to Vw to offset the cost of hiring more American workers.
Re: to the prior posts... there's always some, no mattter how great the benefit of a particular course of action who choose to remain part of the problem (real or perceived) and not engage in a solution. Unbeleivable.
^^^ And thanks for your insight DR. Z ^^^
Chattanooga and Hamilton County tax payers will be making the payments on the $40 million dollar bond. It is common sense that local worker and construction firms should benefit. If not let the Georgia, Alabama, and all of those out of state firms pay the bond issue payments. Sorry, the locals do have a say in how their $40 million is spent.
Show us a list of local firms and the amounts awarded from the $40 million bond issue that Chattanooga and Hamilton County residents will repay. Do you mind if we take a look at how our tax money was spend in contract awards?
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