Volkswagen ChattanoogaVolkswagen illegally colluded with the United Auto Workers last year to give the union access to VW names and facilities in exchange for the union agreeing to hold down costs if the union won representation, according to a new lawsuit by VW workers opposed to the union.
Three employees at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant are claiming in a lawsuit against VW and the UAW that the company tried to help the union get representation at the plant and to limit what the union could bargain over in any subsequent contract talks.
In a 12-page lawsuit, the workers opposed to the UAW claim VW improperly lent assistance to the UAW in its organizing effort, allowing the union to use VW facilities and make presentations to employees in favor of the union. In exchange, the UAW agreed “to make concessions” to VW under VW’s works council form of management, if workers approved the union.
The lawsuit filed by Chattanooga attorney Bill Horton and Springfield, Va., attorney William Messenger was funded by the National Right to Work Legal Foundation, which helps workers opposed to labor unions. The suit asked the court to direct VW from stopping any further efforts to recognize the UAW.
The UAW called the lawsuit “baseless” and typical of legal challenges against unions made by the National Right to Work Foundation.