{"id":19592,"date":"2019-06-15T13:02:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T21:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/tennessee-workers-reject-union-at-volkswagen-plant-again\/"},"modified":"2019-06-15T13:02:44","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T21:02:44","slug":"tennessee-workers-reject-union-at-volkswagen-plant-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/tennessee-workers-reject-union-at-volkswagen-plant-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Workers Reject Union At Volkswagen Plant \u2014 Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bobby Allyn<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Workers produce vehicles at Volkswagen’s U.S. plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. Some 1,600 workers have narrowly voted against unionizing the plant, the second time an effort to unionize the plant has failed in recent years.<\/p>\n

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Erik Schelzig\/AP<\/p>\n

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Erik Schelzig\/AP<\/p>\n

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For the second time in recent years, auto workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have narrowly voted against forming a union.<\/p>\n

It was the difference of 57 votes. <\/p>\n

Preliminary results show that over three days of voting, 776 workers backed the union, but 833 voted it down. <\/p>\n

The outcome is seen as the latest blow against organized labor in the South, where union advocates have tried for years to strengthen representation in auto facilities amid a shrinking union membership base and fierce opposition from many top lawmakers in the region. <\/p>\n

A slim 51% majority of the some 1,600 ballots cast shot it down. The last time United Auto Workers held a vote to organize the Chattanooga factory, in 2014, roughly 53% of workers rejected the proposal. <\/p>\n

To Volkswagen officials, the latest union defeat shows that anti-union sentiment remains strong among factory workers. <\/p>\n

“Our employees have spoken,” said Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga. <\/p>\n

Volkswagen has officially been neutral in both this month’s vote and the one in 2014.<\/p>\n

Fischer said the National Labor Relations Board still has to certify the results, which will then be subject to legal review. <\/p>\n