U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said Friday he’s not opposed to the idea of a works council at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant, but he called the United Auto Workers “a destructive force.”
Also, Corker said he feels “very good” about potential production of a new sport utility vehicle coming to VW’s Chattanooga plant.
“We’re sitting in good shape,” the Tennessee Republican said, though he added that he doesn’t know whether the automaker has made a decision to build the SUV here.
Corker, who was in Chattanooga for the unveiling of the new local office of the German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern United States, said he told a top VW labor leader in a meeting in Nashville last week that the idea of a works council labor board is an interesting one.
“I’m not opposed to unions,” the former Chattanooga mayor said. “I used to be a union member myself.”