Catherwood LibraryILR School

On Monday the United Automobile Workers (UAW) announced that it would withdraw its effort to unionized workers at the Volkswagen facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The union?s president, Bob King, indicated that the reason for the withdrawal, at least in part, was the NLRB?s lengthy adjudication process that he believes could take years. The move is unexpected because the UAW had previously indicated that the strength of its resolve to unionize the Chattanooga plant drew from the belief that success in that plant could open the door to unionization at other Southern, foreign-owned automobile plants. The union dropped its appeal with the regional NLRB in Atlanta on the same day that further evidence would be admitted to the case regarding the accusation that local lawmakers had interfered with the election process. There is speculation that the UAW may be hoping to run a more successful campaign in February of next year, the soonest that federal law would allow another certification vote, rather than wait until the NLRB resolves the appeal, which could take longer than one year.