VW plant election could be this month if UAW wins challenge

Volkswagen workers and Passats are seen at the Chattanooga manufacturing plant in this file photo.
Volkswagen workers and Passats are seen at the Chattanooga manufacturing plant in this file photo.

A new union election could go on later this month for a small group of maintenance workers at Chattanooga's Volkswagen plant if a United Auto Workers petition receives National Labor Relations Board approval.

But the UAW doesn't want to proceed if the NLRB favors a VW-supported alternative to include a much larger group of production workers along with maintenance employees, according to an official.

photo The UAW logo is displayed on the podium at a news conference in July.

Following a two-day NLRB hearing in Chattanooga, the parties agreed the UAW election for 164 maintenance workers could be Nov. 12 and 13, or Nov. 19 and 20, if the union's petition gets the OK.

The original vote was proposed for today and Friday, but VW said earlier this week it favors an election by maintenance and production employees at the plant, which would push the number of potential voters to more than 1,400.

The UAW in February 2014 lost a vote of blue-collar workers at the plant by a margin of 712 to 626.

NLRB hearing officer Kerstin Meyers said it could be three to five days before a decision is made on the UAW's petition, which VW has asked to be dismissed.

Last month, the UAW sought another election so it could represent the maintenance, or skilled trades, employees for collective bargaining purposes.

On Thursday, Meyers said at the hearing that the UAW "doesn't want to proceed if the [NLRB district director] approves the larger unit." She added the UAW could file another petition.

A UAW spokesman said maintenance workers at the plant pushed for UAW Local 42 in Chattanooga for the election. The local wanted to support the maintenance employees, the spokesman said.

Lawyers for the union and VW argued their cases before the hearing officer, with the UAW saying that testimony by the automaker's employees shows there's "a community of interest" among the maintenance workers, who fix and keep up with the complex plant equipment.

"They're a separate group," said attorney Michael Schoenfeld.

He said maintenance workers have similar technical training, common uniforms and take breaks at the same time.

Schoenfeld said the question to be decided "is maintenance an appropriate unit. It's not if it's the most appropriate unit."

But VW lawyer John Harper said there's no departmental line between maintenance and production workers. He said all those employees "share an overwhelming community of interest."

"In this case, there's no maintenance department," Harper said. "There's no maintenance chief."

He said maintenance and production workers all report to the shop general manager.

Harper said the union is trying to split the hourly manufacturing workers at the plant.

The head of VW's Chattanooga plant said last month in a letter to employees that the UAW's timing for a new election at the factory is "unfortunate" though the company will remain "neutral."

The letter from VW plant CEO Christian Koch and Executive Vice President of Human Resources Sebastian Patta cited the "challenges we are facing as a plant, Brand, and Group."

VW has been rocked for more than a month by the emissions-rigging scandal that has forced the automaker to suspend deliveries of any diesel engine Passats made in Chattanooga.

Nearly 500,000 VW diesel vehicles in the U.S. and about 11 million worldwide are engulfed in the scandal.

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

Upcoming Events