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 The lawsuit marks the latest fallout from a hard-fought contest at
VW's plant in Chattanooga, where workers voted 712-626 last month
not to join the UAW. The union is asking federal regulators to scrap
that result and hold a new election.
In their lawsuit, the three workers are seeking a legal injunction
that would prohibit VW from making similar agreements with the UAW
if another election is held in Chattanooga.
Filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Tennessee in Chattanooga, the complaint alleges VW provided
"thing<s> of value" to the UAW in the unionization drive, violating
the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA).
VW managers helped the UAW in days leading up to the mid-February
election by agreeing not to oppose its unionization drive, granting
the union access to its property and allowing it to meet with
employees during work hours, the lawsuit said.
The LMRA bars employers from paying or delivering a "thing of value"
to the labor union representing its employees.
"UAW union officials and Volkswagen management have colluded to
deprive these workers of a fair vote from the start," Mark Mix,
president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,
said in a statement.
"Enough is enough, which is why these workers are seeking to prevent
further VW assistance to the UAW's organizing efforts," added Mix,
whose Washington, D.C. area-based group launches legal actions
against unions across the United States.
The group, which does not disclose the identities of its financial
backers, is providing free legal counsel to the workers who filed
Wednesday's lawsuit.
The lawsuit notes that the UAW has already challenged the election
it lost at VW Chattanooga. The agreement in place at the time of the
first election is still in effect and the parties would likely
adhere to the same terms during future organizing efforts, according
to the filing.
"It is likely that Volkswagen will provide Organizing Assistance to
the UAW, or things of value similar to it, before a rerun election,"
the filing states.
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A VW representative in Chattanooga declined to comment. But UAW President Bob King dismissed the accusations made by the trio of
workers who filed the lawsuit as baseless.
"The National Right to Work Legal Foundation has a history of
frivolous lawsuits trying to stop workers from joining the UAW,"
King said in a statement on Thursday.
UAW General Counsel Michael Nicholson said in an interview that the
UAW and VW agreed not to fight over the union's campaign only after
VW was shown by the union that it had the support of the majority of
the proposed bargaining unit.
"It's a basic premise of the National Labor Relations Act that
employers are entitled to reach agreements with majority-supported
unions," Nicholson said.
Harvard Law School Professor Benjamin Sachs said VW "could have
recognized" the UAW as the union representing its workers when the
organizing agreement with VW was signed. Though the parties agreed
instead to proceed to a formal election overseen by the U.S.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), "the idea VW couldn't give
organizers access to the property is meritless," Sachs said.
Wednesday's lawsuit is the latest twist in the UAW's push to
unionize a foreign-owned auto plant in the U.S. South.
In its challenge before the NLRB to the Chattanooga election, the
UAW has alleged that politicians and outside groups compromised the
process by making anti-union statements in the days before the
February 12-14 vote.
(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom
Brown)
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