View our Volkswagen/UAW special page with timeline, slideshow, local and national coverage and opinions
Opponents of the United Auto Workers are claiming that Volkswagen illegally helped the union in its recent organizing campaign in exchange for the union agreeing to make concessions to the auto maker.
Three employees at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant have filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Chattanooga, claiming VW and the union illegally colluded in a neutrality agreement to help the UAW 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 the works council, 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.