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Volkswagen Chattanooga workers narrowly reject UAW in latest vote

Volkswagen Chattanooga workers narrowly reject UAW in latest vote

The UAW lost by a thin margin of less than two percent.

Workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory have once again voted against union representation.

The latest vote ended with 833 against joining the United Auto Workers and 776 in favor, an even narrower margin than the UAW's loss in the initial 2014 election, according to the Times Free Press.

"Pending certification of the results by the National Labor Relations Board and a legal review of the election, Volkswagen will respect the decision of the majority," said VW Chattanooga chief Frank Fischer.

The United Auto Workers' ongoing federal corruption investigation almost certainly played a role in discouraging support despite an onslaught of pro-union local advertising leading up to the vote. The UAW has now pivoted its strategy after the second loss, apparently focusing on lobbying to change labor laws.

"Clearly Volkswagen was able to delay bargaining with maintenance [workers] and ultimately this vote among all production and maintenance workers through legal games until they could undermine the vote," said UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg.

The unionization push in Chattanooga represented a broader interest in foreign-owned automotive factories that have traditionally stayed non-union despite the UAW's foothold in Detroit Big Three plants.