© IG metall

NASHVILLE — The head of the German unio representing automotive workers is speaking out against Volkswagen working with anti-labour groups at its plant in Tennessee.

In a statement issued Friday in Frankfurt, Germany, IG metall President Detlef Wetzel called on Volkswagen to show its true colours in officially recognizing the United Auto Workers unio as its bargaining partner at the Chattanooga factory once the unio proves it has signed up a majority of workers there.

It is our objective to guarantee also under the politically difficult circumstances in the United States that labour unio rights are respected and codetermination in the plant is possible, Wetzel said.

Under German law, worker representatives hold half the seats on the board of Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen, which lends added weight to Wetzels position. It also appears to reflect some concern that a new company policy released this week could serve to undermine efforts by its U.S. ally, the United Auto Workers, to organize its first foreign automaker in the South.

Volkswagen management has been under heavy pressure from unio representatives on the board because the U.S. plant stands alone among the automakers worldwide facilities without formal labour representation for workers. The company has voiced support for creating a German-style works council to represent both salaried and hourly workers, but says U.S. law requires it to work with an independent unio to create one.

Volkswagen this week established guidelines for giving labour groups that sign up at least 15 per cent of workers access to plant facilities and to regular meetings with management. While the policy would apply to the United Auto Workers, it could also benefit the American Council of Employees, an organization led by workers who spearheaded efforts to defeat the UAW in a unio vote in February.

IG metall will not accept if Volkswagen treats the UAW just as one as those groups who have acted in the past resolutely against the unio, he said. There must not be any co-operation between Volkswagen and anti-unio groups or yellow unios.

So-called yellow unios are organizations more focused on representing company interests than those of the workers. Sean Moss, the president of the American Council Employees in Chattanooga, has argued that the group opposes the UAW, but not unios as a whole. The groups goal is to present employees with a clear choice and an alternative to the Detroit-led failed alternative, Moss said earlier this week.

The UAW decried the influence of Republican politicians and Washington-based anti-unio groups in churning up the opposition in advance of the February election. The UAW ended up losing that vote 712-626, and soon filed a challenge with the National Labor Relations Board.

The UAW said earlier this week that it had signed a written agreement with VW management to abandon that complaint and to work toward landing the production of a new SUV at the plant in exchange for eventual recognition by the company as bargaining partner at the plant.

This weeks labour policy was seen as a key step toward gaining that status, but a lack of detail in the guidelines has left many questions unanswered.

Harvard University labour law professor Benjamin Sachs said the policy commits plant managers to regular meetings with labour groups, but doesnt lay out any binding outcomes for those talks.

On paper thats not much of a commitment, you could satisfy that by sitting down, listening to what organizations have to say and then leaving, he said. Thats very different than what the law gives unios, which is a right to bargain.