APNewsBreak: UAW says recognition close at VW

Source: AP-Excite

By ERIK SCHELZIG

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An upcoming policy change by Volkswagen would clear the way for the United Auto Workers to become the first union to bargain on behalf of employees at a foreign automaker in the South, the UAW said Monday.

Volkswagen and the union reached an agreement last spring, according to a letter to members of Local 42 in Chattanooga obtained by The Associated Press. The UAW said that it would cooperate with efforts to win production of a new SUV in Chattanooga, and that it would drop its National Labor Relations Board challenge of a February union vote.

In return, Volkswagen committed to recognizing the UAW, which would give it the authority to bargain on behalf of both members and non-members, according to the letter signed by Mike Cantrell and Steve Cochran, the president and vice president of Local 42. Tennessee's right-to-work laws mean that no worker can be forced to join a union, though the UAW says more than half of eligible workers have signed up.

The UAW in February lost a contentious union election at the Volkswagen plant by a 712-626 vote amid warnings from Republican politicians — including U.S. Sen. Bob Corker and Gov. Bill Haslam — that $300 million in incentives for expansion could be imperiled if the union won. Workers who oppose the UAW have formed a chapter of what they call the American Council of Employees in hopes of preventing the union from being recognized by Volkswagen.

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