UAW asks labor board for new vote at Volkswagen

DETROIT -- The UAW asked the National Labor Relations Board on Friday to set aside last week's vote at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tenn., plant and hold another election because of what it called outside interference from elected officials and lobbyists.

Workers voted 712-626 last week to reject union representation at the plant.

Before workers voted, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., urged workers to reject the union and suggested that Volkswagen would not build a new SUV in Chattanooga if workers voted for the UAW. Volkswagen management said the union vote would not affect a decision on where to build the SUV.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said accepting the UAW would discourage other companies from moving into the state. The leader of the state senate threatened to withhold tax incentives to support new investment at a UAW-affiliated Volkswagen.

"Senator Corker's conduct was shameful and undertaken with utter disregard for the rights of the citizens of Tennessee and surrounding states that work at Volkswagen Chattanooga," the UAW said in a 58-page document filed Friday with the NLRB. "It is a more than adequate basis for sustaining these objections."

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Volkswagen has said the SUV will be built either in Tennessee or Puebla, Mexico.

On Saturday, Corker said the state had "re-engaged," in discussions with Volkswagen.

"It's an outrage that politically motivated third parties threatened the economic future of this facility and the opportunity for workers to create a successful operating model that that would grow jobs in Tennessee," UAW President Bob King said in a statement. "It is extraordinary interference in the private decision of workers to have a U.S. senator, a governor and leaders of the state legislature threaten the company with the denial of economic incentives and workers with a loss of product."

Labor experts have said that it would have been against the l! aw for Corker and others to threaten future jobs if they were speaking on behalf of Volkswagen. However, the law is much less clear if Corker and others were simply voicing their opinions.