UAW vote at VW Tennessee plant turns into anti-union crusade

On Wednesday, the 1,500 workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tenn., factory will hold a three-day vote on whether to authorize the United Auto Workers as their union — a vote allowed with the blessing of VW, which has said it would respect any outcome. While workers debate the merits of having the UAW inside the plant, the vote has become a flashpoint for many who've never worked the line.

Since the announcement of the vote, outside groups have flooded Chattanooga with billboards and campaign materials urging a no vote; one billboard decries that "auto unions ate Detroit." Several Tennessee Republicans, including Gov. Bill Haslam, have warned that a yes vote could hurt the state's chances of luring new businesses. And one lawmaker warned Monday that if the UAW won, the state might not grant VW future incentives for expanding the Chattanooga plant.

"Should the workers at Volkswagen choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers, then I believe any additional incentives from the citizens of the state of Tennessee for expansion or otherwise will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate," said state Sen. Bo Watson, a Republican who represents Chattanooga. Watson also called VW's handling of the vote "anti-American."

Yet the opposition to the UAW seems out of proportion to any effect the vote will likely have in the plant itself. Tennessee is a right to work state, meaning no worker can be required to join a union if the UAW wins. VW and the UAW have agreed that if the vote succeeds, the union would represent a "works council" — an European-style committee that generally has less power than a traditional union local, and doesn't negotiate wages. (VW also can't threaten to move work to non-union plants even if it wanted to, since every other VW assembly plant in the world has some kind of union.)

And the VW factory wouldn't be a first. Tennessee officials have rarely objected to the UAW's presence at General Motors' plant in Spring Hill, Tenn. That factory, built in 1990 as the original Saturn site, was shuttered for a couple of years around GM's bankruptcy, but now employs 1,700 UAW workers building the Chevy Equinox, engines and other parts — retooling that GM helped pay for with state incentives. "I applaud GM for choosing to expand their production in Spring Hill and create nearly 500 new jobs," said Gov. Haslam when GM grew the plant in 2010.