Labor board orders Volkswagen to begin bargaining with UAW
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The National Labor Relations Board is ordering Volkswagen to engage in bargaining with a group of skilled trade workers who voted to be represented by the United Auto Workers union at the German automaker’s lone U.S. plant in Tennessee.
According to unanimous order released Wednesday, Volkswagen’s rejection of an earlier ruling in favor of the UAW at the plant “constitutes an unlawful failure and refusal to recognize and bargain.”
UAW Secretary-Treasurer Gary Casteel said the order shows that Volkswagen has been “operating in violation of federal law by refusing to come to the bargaining table.”
About 160 skilled-trades workers voted last year to be represented by the union. But Volkswagen has argued that labor decisions should only be made by the plant’s entire hourly workforce of about 1,400 employees.
