Look at the Detroit 3, union opponent says

photo Volkswagen workers voice their opposition to the UAW at a meeting Friday held at the Hampton Inn and Suites on Hamilton Place Blvd. Left to right at the table are Greg Poteet, Sean Moss, Ronnie Shaver, Mike Burton, Shawn Foote, Travis Finnell and Danielle Brunner.

Sean Moss looks at the Detroit Three carmakers when he considers whether he wants the United Auto Workers to represent him at the Chattanooga Volkswagen assembly plant, where he has worked for nearly three years.

"The more the UAW was in there, the less competitive they became," Moss, 45, said about General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

In an interview last week with other anti-UAW VW employees, Moss said he's a Midwest guy, hailing from Green Bay, Wis., though he's not a Packers fan.

The assembly quality inspector said one of the reasons he likes working at the VW plant is because people can see what he and the other workers do.

"That's my motivation," he said. "A lot of people work jobs in which nobody sees what they do."

Moss, who is unmarried, said he enjoys the work as VW makes an effort to improve the skills of its workforce.

"I try to find new ways to get better," he said.

He had spent most of his working life in the retail sector before joining VW, he said, and he tries to look at his job like a business.

"Everybody here wants to make more money," he said. "But what's being put up by the UAW doesn't make sense."

Moss said VW has taken care of its employees so far.

"You've got to take control of your business," he told some of his colleagues Saturday. "If you don't, you've sold your business to the UAW."

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.

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