ACE Says It Will Continue to Challenge UAW

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF-TV) – The United Auto Workers Union now has direct access to regular meetings with the leadership at the Volkswagen plant.
That follows a formal counting of pro-UAW employees by an independent company.
That’s a setback for an independent union which has tried to keep the Detroit-based UAW out of the plant.

The UAW narrowly lost its bid to represent Volkswagen employees in an NLRB election last February.
But the union quickly organized Local 42 at the plant, and announced that it would have a presence even without formal recognition.
On Monday Volkswagen sent a note to all employees notifying them that the UAW had submitted signed cards to an independent auditor, and that it now had at least 45 percent of the workers. It’s called a level 3 membership, and the union will now have bi-weekly access to management.
ACE leaders are dismayed, but realistic about that news.

MIKE BURTON, MEMBER, ACE "So they have authorization to sit at the table at 45 percent..we’re closing in on 15 percent of employees…and then we will have a seat at the table as well."

Mike Burton and others who support an independent union say the latest turn of events does not affect their feelings toward the auto maker.

MIKE BURTON "For those 2000 of us at Volkswagen, we literally won the lottery. I mean, Volkswagen is our bread and butter. We’re so grateful to them for the wages that we make..the benefits that we get."

But the attorney for ACE says it’s not a level playing field.

MAURY NICELY, ATTORNEY, ACE " We have some serious questions as to the manner in which this has been conducted…and whether it truly has been..not only a level playing field but an accurate way of determining what employees want at Volkswagen."

The United Auto Workers Union responded to our request for an interview with a written statement confirming the Volkswagen news release.
ACE members say they will continue to sign members who oppose the UAW.

MIKE BURTON "We’re going to stick to our guns and continue to do that until we succeed."

Volkswagen says it will "reach out" to the UAW in the near future to start discussions about its options.

At present, a union would represent about 2000 employees.
But the plant in tooling up to produce the Volkswagen Cross Blue SUV, which will add an additional 2000 workers when it begins production in 2016.