A labor group is challenging the validity of some membership cards that the United Auto Workers used to gain new rights inside Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant this week.
But the head of the UAW’s Chattanooga local termed the claims “nonsense” and said the union is moving forward in collaborative talks with the automaker.
The American Council of Employees, a rival labor group to the union at the plant, said Thursday it has submitted documents which show that “a vast portion of the signatures submitted to the UAW are inaccurate, unreliable and out of date.”
Sean Moss, interim-president of ACE, said he’s expecting “a substantial reduction” in the UAW’s membership total to be announced by the independent auditor VW hired to check the names of company employees.
ACE said it has delivered hundreds of documents which it contends will invalidate some signatures collected by the UAW. The documents detail hundreds of examples of employees rescinding previous authorizations they may have signed in support of UAW representation, according to ACE.
“According to these documents, a vast portion of the signatures submitted by the UAW are inaccurate, unreliable, and out of date,” said Maury Nicely, an ACE attorney. “In the service of fairness and transparency, VW’s auditors must also confirm that all certified authorization signatures include an original, written date to confirm when the signatures were obtained.”
Earlier this week, an independent auditor hired by VW said the UAW has at least 45 percent of the plant’s blue-collar workers as members. Under a policy VW enacted last month, that action triggered new rights for the UAW such a bi-weekly meetings with the plant’s executive committee.
Mike Cantrell, president of UAW Local 42 in Chattanooga, said the ACE claims are “bogus and without merit.”
“UAW Local 42 successfully completed a rigorous membership verification process established by Volkswagen and managed by an independent auditor,” Cantrell said. “As anticipated, UAW Local 42 quickly surpassed the highest level under the company’s new Community Organization Engagement Policy, and the local union’s membership exceeds a majority of workers at the plant.”
However, Moss said the auditor’s decision to certify “patently invalid UAW signatures can only be described as a clear violation” of the policy.
“While we continue to play by the rules, the UAW, supported by members of VW management, has manipulated the process and has gone so far as to attempt to represent employees who have specifically withdrawn any support for the UAW whatsoever,” he said.
VW declined to comment on Thursday.
Moss said ACE is preparing its membership list for certification by the auditors.
He said that process has been delayed because, unlike the UAW, its members include both hourly and salaried workers, and VW has ignored its request for a list of eligible employees as was provided to the UAW.
The UAW lost an organizing election in February by a vote of 712 to 626. The union alleged interference by Republican politicians, and this summer opened a non-dues-paying local in Chattanooga to sign up members.
Both ACE and the UAW hope to gain recognition from VW.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.