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Five years have elapsed since the union’s initial attempt and the United Auto Workers trade union is set to try again to establish a presence within the Volkswagen facility based in Chattanooga, south Tennessee. The 1,700 Passat and SUV Atlas assembly workers are being called to vote on 12, 13, and 14 June on the proposal to establish a trade union presence and to open wage negotiations. The previous attempt saw 712 votes against, outweighing the 626 who voted in favor (c.f. article No. 8196). The following year the trade unionists, refusing to drop this all important baton did manage to gain a foothold in the facility by persuading skilled trades maintenance staff to join the union (c.f. article No. 9804) however Volkswagen management would not recognize the separation between non-unionized workers and unionized skilled staff and the company refused to meet with the UAW representatives. The automaker brought the case to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the case has dragged on since. The final upshot has been to start from a clean slate and conduct a fresh and full facility vote. Chattanooga is symbolically significant for the UAW, which although has 400,000 militants established within the three major automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) still has to succeed in gaining a presence in foreign names (Nissan, Toyota, VW) that operate in the southern US States, typically the ‘Right to Work’ States, which oppose unionism. Bill Lee, Republican Governor of Tennessee has once again been campaigning for a ‘No’ vote.
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