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Monday 24 June 2013

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CHATTANOOGA — If you’re an hourly employee at Chattanooga’s five-year-old Volkswagen plant brace yourself for a vote on whether to join the United Auto Workers union.
Since Tennessee is a right-to-work state no one can fire you for not joining the UAW and paying union dues, but you may give up some employment control if you don’t participate.
Patrick Semmons, spokesman for the National Right to Work Foundation, describes those dangers.
“You will still be subject to any contract that the UAW agrees to. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the contract or if you vote against the union or get a better deal on your own absent what the UAW is negotiating. You are stuck with it, no matter what. If you exercise your right to work you lose your ability to have even a limited say in the kind of contract that you will be subjected to,” Semmons told Tennessee WatchdogRepresentatives from both the UAW and the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant confirmed they are talking with one another, but wouldn’t provide additional comment to Tennessee Watchdog.
The UAW would have a presence at a foreign-owned automobile manufacturing plant for the first time in more than 20 years if its efforts in Chattanooga are successful.
UAW representatives are acting methodically in their approach for two important reasons, Semmons said.
“The UAW hasn’t hidden the fact that it’s looking to unionize other plants. GM,Chrysler, and Ford are pretty much 100 percent in already, so all that’s really left are the foreign automakers, particularly those in the South and the right-to-work states.”
Semmons’ organization, a non-profit with a stated mission of eliminating what it calls coercive union power, is offering free legal assistance to VW employees in Chattanooga who might not wish to join the UAW.
“This is not the traditional case of the workers on the shop floor getting together and saying ‘Hey, we want a union’ and then they go and organize one. This is the union from a distance up in Michigan negotiating with a company in Germany about what is going to the shop floor in Chattanooga,” Semmons said.
“If employees want the right to work and cut off dues they are going to then lose their ability to vote for whomever their representatives are on whatever panels or negotiating committee or anything else that’s taken place. It’s really an unusual system that’s being proposed.”
In a statement, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said VW’s 3,100 employees have to decide on their own whether to join the UAW, but he worries that the union’s presence might hurt output.Ikenson
“I’ve talked to a number of employees in Chattanooga, and they are very comfortable with the way things are now. Volkswagen continues to be incredibly successful with the current structure. I would hate for anything to happen that would hurt the productivity of the plant or to deter investment in Chattanooga.”
Dan Ikenson, an associate director with the Cato Institute, told Tennessee Watchdog that Haslam’s fears aren’t unfounded.
“It would be mind boggling to me that people in Tennessee would think that the UAW would represent their interests and get them better working conditions or better salaries. The history is that UAW’s actions elsewhere have reduced the bottom line. The spoils to be distributed to the workers are a lot smaller. I hope that the efforts are resisted,” Ikenson said.
Semmons said any VW employees who wish to have free legal assistance may call his organization at 800-336-3600 or visit its website.
- See more at: http://tennessee.watchdog.org/2013/04/05/workers-may-face-tough-choice-with-uaw-interest-in-chattanooga-vw-plant/#sthash.LCsjsibY.dpuf

Volkswagen calls its Chattanooga plant a global model for energy conservation and efficient production. But executives remain tightlipped about whether the facility is in line to produce a new crossover SUV for the German automaker.A decision about production of the new model could come as soon as the quarter that begins in July, and local and state officials hope the company decides to double down on the plant that currently employs about 2,500.
A delegation of local officials traveled to VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, earlier this month to make the case for expanding the Chattanooga plant, which began making the Passat sedan in 2011.We are always looking for ways to work with them and encourage their growth in Chattanooga," Mayor Andy Berke, who was on the Germany trip, said in an email.Economic incentives are likely to play a large role in the decision, just as they did when Chattanooga beat out sites in Alabama and Michigan for the plant in 2008. Tennessee's total incentive package was estimated at $577 million.No doubt it takes incentives," Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger was quoted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press as saying after the trip.Supporters say the returns have more than justified the incentives. A recent University of Tennessee study estimates the plant has spurred the creation of 12,400 jobs – at the plant, with suppliers and at related businesses. The report said the facility creates more than $643 million in annual income and a $53 million annual increase in state and local tax revenues.
If Volkswagen bypasses the Chattanooga plant, it won't be for lack of available space. Jan Spies, VW's head of factory planning, noted at a recent media roundtable in Chattanooga that the facility was laid out to accommodate a doubling of its current size.It is designed to be mirrored, it is designed to be expanded and within that we have lots of flexibility to play with whatever should be inside," he said.Spies said the Chattanooga plant set a new standard for Volkswagen, which has 100 plants worldwide."The layout here is fantastic," he said. "We've copied it more than any other layout so far."But the Chattanooga model doesn't fit all production needs, said Spies, remarking, "As soon as you come to building cars that have a much higher complexity, this layout will not be the best."For example, the recent expansion of a plant in Gyor, Hungary, required a different design to accommodate the wider range of luxury vehicles made there by Audi, he said. Unlike the Chattanooga plant, which makes only four-door Passat sedans, the Hungary facility is also able to produce two-door cars and station wagons and can produce vehicles with a larger number of customizable options and equipment.VW unveiled its CrossBlue concept at the North American International Auto Show in January. The crossover would be a first in the U.S. market: a plug-in hybrid SUV with a diesel engine and two electric motors. Volkswagen said it can travel 14 miles in all-electric mode before a diesel engine would kick in.VW later introduced a CrossBlue Coupe concept at the Shanghai auto show that uses gasoline and electric motors.Spies declined to speculate on how extensive a task it would be to design expanded operations at the Chattanooga plant while maintaining current energy conservation and production standards.It is very much dependent on what we do," he said. "Just on the hypothetical level, you could occupy lots of planners."Proponents of an expansion at the Chattanooga plant also hope there are no lingering bad feelings over a state law enacted earlier this year that allows workers to store guns in their cars while parked in their employers' parking lots. Frank Fischer, the plant's chairman and CEO, was a vocal opponent of the law.
The state attorney general said in a legal opinion released last month that under the law, employers would still be allowed to fire workers who violate gun bans. A sign at the entrance to the Volkswagen parking lot in Chattanooga notifies workers and visitors that guns are banned.

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