Tennessee Chamber hits UAW at VW

photo The VW logo is seen on the front of one of dozens of new Passats made at the Chattanooga Volkswagen assembly plant parked outside the plant.

Tennessee Chamber hits UAW at VW

The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry says in a letter to top Volkswagen officials that an increase in the level of unionization will make it more difficult to attract more auto suppliers to Southeast Tennessee. The business group also said in the letter to VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn that such a move will be a setback for the overall positive business climate.

"We urge you not to invite the UAW into the Chattanooga plant without at least giving your employees the opportunity to vote in a secret ballot election after learning all of the relevant pros and cons of union representation," said the letter signed by Bill Ozier, the group's chairman and Catherine Glover, its president.

Austin may get gigabit Internet

Google has scheduled a news conference today in Austin, Texas, where the Internet giant says it "will make a very important announcement that will have a positive impact on Austinites." Austin is expected to become the third city to gain Google Fiber, the high-speed Internet links designed to be similar to the gigabit-per-second Internet service offered in Chattanooga by EPB Fiber. Chattanooga is the first city to gain gigabit speed capability to all homes, but Google previously has announced plans for its high-speed fiber links in both Kansas City and Olathe, Kan.

Wired magazine said Monday that while Google Fiber began as an experiment to shame the broadband industry into providing faster and cheaper service, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt now says that Google Fiber is a real business on its own.

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