Editors Note: The Death of Independent Choice and Growth
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / UAW President Shawn Fain hugs union supporters after the union’s win at Volkswagen Chattanooga on April 19. The National Labor Relations Board has certified the election results.
The National Labor Relations Board has certified the United Auto Workers landmark win at Volkswagen Chattanooga, and the union and automaker Tuesday pledged to work together at the plant.
“Both sides are now focused on collective bargaining and entering negotiations in the spirit of working together to reach a fair agreement and build world-class automobiles together,” a joint statement from the UAW and Volkswagen said.
The statement said Volkswagen and union workers around the world have a long history of successfully building vehicles together, “and we are jointly committed to a strong and successful future at Volkswagen Chattanooga with the UAW.”
“We share many common goals: providing a positive working environment where employees are well compensated for their hard work building quality vehicles and share in the company’s success,” the parties said.
However, Volkswagen Group on Tuesday reported a 20% drop in first quarter earnings compared to a year ago. Operating profit came in at $4.9 billion in the quarter, the company said in a news release.
Volkswagen cited lower sales and an unfavorable brand and model mix as well as an increase in fixed costs for the result.
In North America, sales fell by 10% in the quarter compared to the same period last year, the company reported.
Still, the automaker maintained its outlook for the year, saying it had a strong March and expects to launch more than 30 new models across all brands.
The Chattanooga plant employs about 5,500 people making the Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport and ID.4 SUVs. More than 4,300 workers are part of the union bargaining unit at the factory.
Alan Amici, chief executive of the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, said there may be some people who are skeptical of the union and its win at Volkswagen Chattanooga.
He said by phone the result may be “a little more costly in labor” at the plant, but he added union membership is “not such a bad thing.”
Amici — who said he isn’t pro- or anti-union — said the UAW can offer protections to workers and employees’ standards of living can improve.
In a letter to the UAW’s Voluntary Organizing Committee obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tim Smith, who heads the UAW region that includes the South, said certification means the company has a legal obligation to bargain with the union.
“Once the union has been certified, you can begin the process of electing your bargaining team,” he said.
Smith said that after certification, the organizing panel will meet to choose the election committee. That body will work with UAW staff to elect a temporary bargaining committee, he said.
According to the NLRB, 2,628 ballots were cast for the union, or 73%, while 985 workers, or 27%, voted against the UAW in the April 17-19 election.
The union, which had lost twice before in close votes at the Chattanooga factory, was able to organize its first foreign assembly plant in the South. In about three weeks, another union vote is slated for the Mercedes production plant in Vance, Alabama.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com
