UAW Continues VW Unionization Campaign, Violates Neutrality Agreement

Workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted against UAW representation in February. But the UAW still hasn’t gotten the message.

On April 21, 2014, the same day the UAW dropped its appeal for a revote, UAW Regional Director Gary Casteel sent a letter to VW employees that read, in part,

We still believe that a works council and UAW representation can provide the foundation for productive and respectful labor relations and we have wavered in our commitment to helping Volkswagen employees achieve that goal.

This has caused a stir among the workers at the plant opposed to UAW unionization. These workers, who formed the website No2UAW.com, charge that the UAW has breached its neutrality agreement with VW, which stipulated that the union would refrain from any organizing activity if it lost the February election.

No2UAW.com issued an open letter to Casteel on its website that said “you lost the election. So why you are still sending us letters? Looks a lot like ‘organizing activity’ to us.”

It is hard to argue with the workers associated with No2UAW.com. It’s been over two months after the UAW lost the election and according to Casteel’s letter, the UAW is still 100 percent committed to representing the workers at VW.

Mr. Casteel’s letter is not the only correspondence the UAW has had with workers since the union lost the vote. Also on April 21, the UAW was handing out the below letter to VW workers at the plant in Chattanooga:

UAW believes they are supposed to speak for workers and maybe that is the reason that the UAW has such a hard time listening to them. Whatever the reason, it is high time for the UAW to respect the will of the workers at the Chattanooga plant and leave them alone.

Read “How the UAW Lost Tennessee: Gaming U.S. Labor Law Failed to Overcome Worker Opposition” for an account of the UAW’s deceitful organizing campaign at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga.