U.S. House Dems investigating Haslam's role in VW vote

Democrats in the U.S. House on Wednesday opened an "inquiry" into whether Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's administration might have violated federal labor law by attempting to tie state incentives for expansion of the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant to the outcome of an election over representation by the United Auto Workers union.

The probe is yet another chapter in the ongoing debate over whether Republican officials, including Haslam and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, may have interfered in the February election in which workers voted 712-626 to reject the UAW, which was attempting to organize the employees and set up a German-style "works council" at the plant.

After the vote, the UAW challenged the outcome of the vote, citing "outside interference" by the Republican elected officials, and asked the National Labor Relations Board to overturn the results and order a new election.

Since then, reports from Nashville have indicated that the Haslam administration had offered a $300 million incentive package to Volkswagen to entice the company to build a new sport utility vehicle in Chattanooga, but pegged the offer on a satisfactory outcome of the effort to set up a union works council at the plant.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/cars/2014/04/16/us-house-investigating-haslams-role-vw-vote/7790271/