UAW says most Chattanooga workers want union while opponents fear the worst, call for secret ballot

But, Matt Patterson, senior fellow for the Center for Economic Freedom at the Washington, D.C.-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he’s skeptical the UAW even has a majority of cards. Even if it does, he thinks an election is called for.

“I hope the whole process is above board and open as possible,” he said. “For everyone to feel comfortable … they’d have to have an election.”

Lowell Turner, a Cornell University professor of international and comparative labor, said VW is “caught in a pinch.”

He said there are top people at the company’s headquarters in Germany who support the works council concept and want the Chattanooga plant to be a part of that global network.