Even UAW Supporters Puzzled Over Why The Union Pulled Its Challenge To Volkswagen Vote

Currently, Volkswagen Chattanooga only builds the Passat. But VW would like to build a new SUV there. The other option is at a plant in Mexico. Credit: VW

The United Auto Workers surprised even its biggest backers in Tennessee Monday morning when it suddenly withdrew its objections to a failed union vote at Volkswagen.

Volkswagen employee Justin King worked for months on the UAW’s behalf ahead of what ended up being a very close vote – an 86 ballot margin. And after the UAW challenged the outcome based on interference from Republican politicians, King was subpoenaed to testify in the federal hearings scheduled to start this week in Chattanooga.

“All we’ve been told for the last month or two is that we had a very solid case,” he says.

The UAW filed emails and news clippings as evidence that Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam, along with other lawmakers, conspired to systematically undermine the February vote.

Then sitting in a coffee shop across from where the hearing would be held an hour before the start time, King received a text message saying the union had pulled out. He says everyone’s confused.

“Why did the UAW decide to drop these objections? That’s something I’ve not gotten a good answer to yet.”

In a one-page press release, the UAW says it is moving on because none of the elected officials agreed to appear at the hearings. But labor experts say there must be more to the story.

The case was an unusual appeal to the National Labor Relations Board. The UAW accused a governor and U.S. Senator  – not the company – of interference.

But University of Richmond law professor Ann Hodges says she thought the case was pretty strong for a third-party interference challenge.

“I don’t think that this means they necessarily had a weak case but maybe just as a practical matter you don’t win much because you just get another election,” Hodges says.

The UAW only has to wait a year to ask for another vote anyway, though Hodges says the odds of winning on a second try are usually worse, not better.

Then there’s the pending decision of where Volkswagen will build a new SUV. Chattanooga is in the running.

If the expansion falls through, the UAW certainly gets blamed, but maybe not now, says Detroit labor attorney Cliff Hammond.

“If you walk away and the jobs don’t come, well guess who you can point the finger at. You can point the finger at the politicians potentially,” he says.

During the union vote, Volkswagen did ask that everyone leave the decision up to employees.