Hamilton County commissioners Tuesday waded into the upcoming union vote at Volkswagen Chattanooga, with some officials staking out sides amid an increasingly contentious run-up to the election later this month.
(READ MORE: UAW election set for April)
Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, said unions work "across the planet" and asked why the United Auto Workers shouldn't do so at the Volkswagen factory in the city.
Mackey, wearing a red T-shirt supporting the UAW at the meeting, said the company doesn't object to the union. Volkswagen officials have said they're neutral on union representation and leaving the decision to workers.
County Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, questioned at the meeting if a gathering Monday of Republican state and local officials outside the plant urging workers to vote against the union ran afoul of federal labor law.
"Maybe that's something we ought to make sure here in Hamilton County we're not violating federal law," he said.
But Commissioner Lee Helton, R-East Ridge, who was among those officials outside the plant Monday, said it was appropriate to speak out, adding the VW factory sits in the city- and county-owned industrial park, and the facility was constructed with the help of local and state money.
"We don't have a vote on this, the employees do," Helton said at the meeting. "They're going to make their own decision. To say we're trying to squelch, no, that's hogwash. They'll make a decision that's right for them. We'll support them either way."
Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy Daisy, said at the meeting local building trades unions are made up of valued community members.
"If the UAW goes in there (at Volkswagen), I hope they operate it like the unions do in Chattanooga, not like they do somewhere else," he said. "I believe the UAW needs to come to the values of Chattanooga, not the values of Detroit."
At the Monday news conference, County Mayor Weston Wamp called the UAW a corrupt and hyper-political operation.
"The UAW is a sinking ship," the Republican mayor said, citing lower union membership numbers nationally.
A federal probe about five years ago found broad corruption in the UAW, with a dozen officials, including two former presidents, convicted of taking more than $1 million of union funds for luxury travel and other lavish personal expenses, according to The New York Times.
The union has since had a court-appointed monitor oversee anti-corruption reforms. President Shawn Fain was the first elected under one of those reforms, which was direct election of a president instead of a delegate system. He took the oath of office in March 2023.
Wamp said Tuesday in a phone call that he had to leave the commission meeting for another appointment before discussion on the union vote was over. But, he said, automakers and their suppliers are thriving in Tennessee because, in part, they're not dominated by the UAW.
Wamp said commissioners can speak their minds on the union issue, but it's a contradiction for some of them to question his right to talk about the vote.
"President Biden shared an opinion. I've got every right to talk about that issue," he said.
Wamp said the election will have "major consequences" on Enterprise South Industrial Park where VW builds the ID.4 and Atlas SUVs.
(READ MORE: Third try at VW Chattanooga)
Mackey said in a statement at the meeting he worked at three Chrysler plants in Detroit.
"I was a proud member of the UAW," he said. "And yes, they did protect workers. Through union efforts, we received higher wages, better working conditions and better benefits."
Commissioner Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd, said at the meeting he worked at Combustion Engineering in the city for many years and the union helped boost wages.
"I take offense of anybody saying unions are political," he said. "Unions are humane. I applaud the efforts at Volkswagen."
Some 4,300 Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are slated to decide in a secret ballot vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board whether they will choose the UAW as their bargaining representative.
The dates are April 17-19, as was proposed in an election petition filed earlier by the UAW.
The UAW lost elections at the plant in 2014 and 2019.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.