Joe Rowe, right, speaks as Kevin Myles, left, and Monroe Woods listen during a press conference about the recent Volkswagen union vote at the NAACP office.View our Volkswagen/UAW special page with timeline, slideshow, local and national coverage and opinions
Politicians and billionaires took the vote for organized labor out of the hands of Volkswagen workers and gave it to a few people trying to control the country with power and wealth, said Chattanooga NAACP executive committee member Joe Rowe.
Rowe was one of nearly two dozen NAACP members from across the state and region gathered at the Chattanooga-branch NAACP office Friday demanding that Volks- wagen workers get an opportunity to vote concerning a union without any influence from outside politicians.
A United Auto Workers member also attended the news conference but said he could not comment to the media.
Unions are being attacked around the country, but Chattanooga is the place where people from outside the city and the state have been brought in to prevent workers from organizing a union, said NAACP officials.