NASHVILLE — A majority of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga told the United Auto Workers union earlier this year it’s not wanted there, but union officials aren’t getting the message.
UAW officials announced Monday the formation of UAW Local 42, which they say will represent Chattanooga VW employees using what they call a “works council” approach.
As Tennessee Watchdog reported earlier this year, a works council is a European-style form of organizing, which some people say is the same as having a union.
A union isn’t legally required for the type of activity that goes on in works councils, at least not in the United States.
“No employees will be required to join,” according to a UAW news release put out Thursday.
Patrick Semmens, spokesman for the Virginia-based National Right to Work Foundation, which previously represented the interests of several Chattanooga VW employees who didn’t wish to join the union, said the UAW has an ulterior motive.
“It’s in part designed to deliberately confuse the people of Chattanooga and the people in this plant,” Semmens said. “A lot of times the UAW wants people to feel peer pressure. ‘Oh well, they’re already in place. I may as well join them because every one else is, already.’”
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