VW plant’s ‘works council’ stirs GOP unrest in Tennessee
By ERIK SCHELZIG
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Top Volkswagen officials are trying to quell fears among Tennessee politicians about efforts to work with a union to create a German-style works council at the automakers lone U.S. plant in Chattanooga.
So far the GOP leaders remain unconvinced.
Labor representatives, who make up half of the Wolfsburg, Germany-based automakers supervisory board, have pressured VW management to enter discussions with the United Auto Workers about representing workers at the plant because U.S. law would require a works council to be created through an established union.
Bernd Osterloh, the head of the Volkswagens global works council and a member of the companys supervisory board, was among a delegation of company leaders who visited the plant Thursday and later met with Gov. Bill Haslam and fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker in Nashville.
In his only U.S. interview, Osterloh told The Associated Press that the pending decision about union representation for workers at the automakers lone U.S. plant will have no bearing on whether the company will decide to add the production of a new SUV in Tennessee or in Mexico.
http://www.gazettenet.com/businessmoney/consumernews/9352259-95/vw-plants-works-council-stirs-gop-unrest-in-tennessee
Gee, I thought the repubs were all for letting "Businesses be free to do what they want, free of government interference"