A petition to decertify the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the representative of employees at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant has been filed, emerging amid stalled contract negotiations nearly two years after workers voted to unionize.
Employees are able to file a petition for decertification with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) if they believe support for a union has diminished, after collecting signatures from at least 30 percent of workers in a unit.
Once 30 percent of employees sign the petition, the NLRB will hold an election. A majority of the votes cast will determine whether the union is decertified.
Volkswagen employees at the Chattanooga plant voted to join the UAW in April 2024 after two prior attempts to unionize failed. Nearly two years after joining the UAW, workers have yet to successfully negotiate their first union contract with Volkswagen.
Workers at the plant voted in October to authorize a strike after contract negotiations between the UAW and the German automaker stalled, with Volkswagen holding firm to its September final offer.
Volkswagen’s offer to workers in September included an immediate $4,000 ratification bonus and a 5 percent wage increase on Day 1. The officer also offered an additional $1,500 if the contract was approved by October 31.
The proposal also guaranteed 3 percent-6 percent annual raises totaling 20 percent over four years, a quarterly cost-of-living adjustment, an 8 percent attendance bonus, and potential profit-sharing payouts.
Further, under the offer, every current employee would reach the top wage rate by the end of the contract – earning up to $39.85 an hour with cost-of-living adjustments – while workers progressing through the wage scale would see substantial jumps, such as a move from $25.80 to about $30.62 an hour by 2026.
Now, as the two-year anniversary of Volkswagen workers joining the union approaches without a contract, a petition to decertify the UAW has been launched.
The petition emphasizes that Volkswagen’s final offer is available to workers with or without the UAW and urges employees to decertify the union to accept it.
Pointing to the UAW’s authorization to call a strike, the petition claims that the union is steering workers toward a work stoppage that could put their jobs, health coverage, and leased vehicles at risk.
Data from 2016 through this fiscal year, published by the NLRB, shows that more decertification elections have been lost than won by unions.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Volkswagen Chattanooga Building” by Volkswagen Chattanooga.
