UAW loses Tennessee VW plant vote, 712-626

Three Rivers, Michigan

I just received an alert on my iPad Mini from the Detroit Free Press that the United Auto Workers attempt to unionize a workforce at a foreign-owned auto plant--Volkswagen in Tennessee--has failed. In a victory for worker freedom, the UAW lost, 712-626.

UPDATE 9:30pm CST: The Detroit News reports:

The United Auto Workers union suffered a major defeat Friday as workers at Volkswagen AG’s assembly plant narrowly rejected a proposal to form a German-style works council and join the union.

The dramatic rejection by workers in a 626 to 712 vote raises serious questions about the UAW’s expensive and lengthy efforts to organize foreign automakers.

A total of 89 percent of the roughly 1,550 voters that were eligible to vote cast ballots over the last few days.

The vote here at the 4-year-old plant — after more than two years of effort by the union — may have been the Detroit union’s best chance to reverse nearly two decades of defeats and is likely to prompt a review of strategy when the union’s new leadership team, including a new president, is elected by members in June.

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