“By choosing to fight the NLRB, @Volkswagen is in clear violation of federal law.” – UAW Sec-Treas Gary Casteel https://t.co/swAw7C2SqB
— UAW (@UAW) April 25, 2016
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant’s labor dispute with the United Auto Workers.
The presumptive Democrat nominee tweeted on Thursday “Volkswagen workers in TN are raising their voices for the rights they deserve. VW should meet them at the table.
Volkswagen workers in TN are raising their voices for the rights they deserve. VW should meet them at the table. -H https://t.co/kQQTEXplGL
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 6, 2016
But the Tennessee Republican Party’s executive director said it wasn’t appropriate for her to enter the fray at VW, though it’s not surprising.
“She’ll do the catering of unions, put free market principles aside and do what the union wants to do,” said Brent Leatherwood.
Volkswagen did not return an email seeking comment.
UAW Secretary-Treasurer Gary Casteel had tweeted that “By choosing to fight the NLRB, Volkswagen is in clear violation of federal law.” Then, Clinton retweeted the UAW tweet and her own.
VW has said that while it respects the rights of employees to decide the question of union representation, it would appeal to federal court a National Labor Relations Board decision last month upholding a union election at the plant in December 2015. By a 108-44 vote, skilled trades workers agreed to align with the UAW.
VW argues that all production workers at the plant should be included in a vote. The UAW lost a vote of blue-collar workers in February 2014 at the factory by a 712-626 margin.
Brent Leatherwood, executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party, answers questions during a legislative preview session held by The Associated Press and the Tennessee Press Association, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)Last week, Karlheinz Blessing, VW’s top human resources official in Germany, agreed to meet with Casteel this month over the labor impasse.
Casteel said the UAW would like to “re-establish a trusting relationship with Volkswagen.”
Blessing told The Wall Street Journal that “We can accept a vote of the entire workforce, but we cannot accept fragmentation.”
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.