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Tenn. governor questions UAW process at Volkswagen

FILE - In this July 31, 2012, file photo, an employee works on a Passat sedan at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The United Auto Workers on Monday, Dec. 8, 2014, qualified for the top tier of a new labor policy at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, giving the union its first formal role within a foreign-owned auto plant in the South. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)
FILE - In this July 31, 2012, file photo, an employee works on a Passat sedan at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The United Auto Workers on Monday, Dec. 8, 2014, qualified for the top tier of a new labor policy at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, giving the union its first formal role within a foreign-owned auto plant in the South. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File) FILE - In this July 31, 2012, file photo, an employee works on a Passat sedan at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The United Auto Workers on Monday, Dec. 8, 2014, qualified for the top tier of a new labor policy at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, giving the union its first formal role within a foreign-owned auto plant in the South. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a longtime critic of the United Auto Workers’ efforts to organize their first foreign automaker in the state and region, is questioning the process by which the union qualified under a new labor policy at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.

Haslam told The Associated Press after a Farm Bureau speech in Franklin on Tuesday that he wants all major labor decisions at the Volkswagen plant made through secret ballots and not by counting union membership cards.

Volkswagen announced on Monday that an independent auditor had verified that the UAW had signed up at least 45 percent of workers at the plant, qualifying the union for the top tier of the new labor policy guaranteeing access to plant facilities and to regular meetings with management.