Feb. 17, 2015—A group opposed to the United Auto Workers union has qualified for the bottom tier of a labor policy at Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Tennessee, according to the Associated Press.
The German automaker announced to workers Monday that the American Council of Employees had met the minimum threshold of signing up at least 15 percent of hourly and salaried employees at the Chattanooga facility.
Volkswagen is the first of the foreign automakers with plants in the south to allow the UAW in to represent its employees. It wants to create a German works council, a way for employees to be collectively represented. But it’s allowing other unions in rather than giving that right exclusively to UAW.
The American Council of Employees now has access to the conference center once a month, can post announcements, and can meet with VW human resources once per month.
The UAW can get the conference center at any time and meet with HR twice per month.
The U.S. plant is Volkswagen’s only facility without labor representation.