NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A two day unionization vote begins Thursday at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.
Last year an election pushed by the United Auto Workers Union to gain bargaining rights for the plant’s entire workforce was narrowly defeated. This time around the union is trying to unionize just 165 skilled trades workers, not the entire 1250 blue-collar workforce.
Last year’s vote was a raucous affair with Tennessee’s entire Republican leadership panning the vote and the UAW complaining about outside interference. So far, this year’s election has drawn little attention.
Leading UAW critic Sen. Bob Corker hasn’t commented on the new vote since it was announced last month. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has mostly limited his criticism to questioning the timing of the vote. Haslam says VW should be concentrating instead on the fallout from its diesel emissions cheating scandal.