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VW and Its Workers Explore A Union at a Tennessee Plant

UAW statement on VW Works Council in Chattanooga

VW and Its Workers Explore A Union at a Tennessee Plant

Volkswagen is working with the United Automobile Workers at its Chattanooga, Tenn., assembly plant on how to unionize the plant and create a German-style works council there, the president of the labor union said on Friday.

The company would be the first German automaker to have such a council at a United States plant. A works council is a group of employees, including both white- and blue-collar workers, that meets with management on issues like working conditions and productivity.

But to avoid violating American labor laws, the plant would first have to be formally unionized, the company said.

"VW workers in Chattanooga have the unique opportunity to introduce this new model of labor relations to the United States, in partnership with the U.A.W.," the union's president, Bob King, said in a statement on Friday.

Volkswagen officials told employees at the Chattanooga plant on Thursday that it was negotiating with the union about establishing a works council there, where about 2,000 workers assemble the VW Passat. A letter, signed by the plant's chairman, Frank Fischer, and its vice president for human resources, Sebastian Patta, said the talks were aimed at "the possibility of implementing an innovative model of employee representation for all employees."

The VW officials said that a works council could be created at a company in the United States only with the cooperation of a labor union because it might otherwise be viewed as an illegal company-sponsored union. That, the VW officials wrote, is why the company has started its dialogue with the U.A.W. None of the foreign carmakers with auto plants in the South are currently unionized.

Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee has been outspoken in opposing any union inroads at the Volkswagen plant, warning that it would undermine his state's efforts to attract investment.

Volkswagen and U.A.W. officials met on Aug. 30 in Wolfsburg, Germany, where the company is based, to continue previous discussions about the works council and unionizing at the Chattanooga plant, which has been operating since 2011 and has a total of 2,500 employees including managers.

Some labor and auto experts say that if the VW plant in Chattanooga gets a works council, it would create pressure to do likewise at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, S.C., and the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala.

While some executives see works councils as a pesky thorn in their side, others see them as a useful source of ideas from the shop floor and a vehicle to build consensus and employee morale.

"Volkswagen is a company that has extensive experience with union representation," Mr. King said in his statement, "and the U.A.W. believes the role of the union in the 21st century is to create an environment where both the company and workers succeed."

U.A.W. officials say that Volkswagen has agreed to not oppose any unionization drive in Chattanooga.

In the letter to Chattanooga employees, Mr. Fischer and Mr. Patta wrote that they wanted to "prevent any influence from outside driving a wedge into our great team."

That resembles language that anti-union companies often use to suggest that unions would be an undesirable third party that gets between employees and managers. But a U.A.W. official said that sentence referred to anti-union groups, like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and its Center for Economic Freedom, that have vigorously criticized Volkswagen for not battling to keep out a union the way that many American companies do.

UAW statement on VW Works Council in Chattanooga
 

http://www.uaw.org/articles/uaw-statement-vw-works-council-chattanooga

DETROIT -- The UAW issued this statement today regarding discussions concerning representation and a works council for the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga (Tenn.):

The UAW confirms that officials of Volkswagen Group, the Volkswagen Global Works Council and the UAW met in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Aug. 30, 2013, in a continuation of previous meetings between their representatives. The meeting focused on the appropriate paths, consistent with American law, for arriving at both Volkswagen recognition of UAW representation at its Chattanooga facility and establishment of a German-style works council. We look forward to future discussions.

VW is a company that is globally recognized as being at the forefront of respecting the basic human rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain as spelled out in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the International Labor Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Every major VW assembly facility in the world, with the exception of the Chattanooga facility, has worker representation and a seat on the VW Global Works Council.

VW's Global Labor Charter and VW's Social Charter go beyond international labor standards, establishing principles governing labor relations and social matters such as remuneration systems, information and communication, training, occupational health and safety, social and ecological sustainability, labor standards at suppliers and, most recently, principles for the use of temporary workers. The Charter also establishes annual labor-management meetings and gives employee bodies the right to hold workforce meetings at least once per year at which management informs the workforce on the economic situation and developments in the area of human resources and social matters.

The UAW commends VW management and the Global Works Council for their record of recognizing global human rights and worker rights and looks forward to working with them collaboratively in Tennessee.

Volkswagen is a company that has extensive experience with union representation and the UAW believes the role of the union in the 21st century is to create an environment where both the company and workers succeed. The UAW appreciates the opportunity to have direct discussions with VW management. Ultimately, however, it's the workers in Chattanooga who will make the decision on representation and a works council.

If the Chattanooga workers choose to have representation and a works council, the UAW is committed to engaging with VW in open, fair and respectful dialogue to create an environment where Tennessee workers can participate in VW's global work council system.

VW workers in Chattanooga have the unique opportunity to introduce this new model of labor relations to the United States, in partnership with the UAW. Such a labor relations model would give workers the job security that would accompany their having an integral role in managing the company and a vehicle to provide input on workplace improvements that will contribute to the company's success.