The United Auto Workers will form a local union in Tennessee to represent workers at the Chattanooga Volkswagen (IW 1000/7) plant, The Tennessean newspaper reported on Thursday.
It is a preliminary step toward the UAW gaining a toehold among foreign automakers in the U.S. South, a region that has often been inhospitable to organized labor, after the union lost a February election at the Chattanooga plant.
The Tennessean, in Nashville, said that it was told by UAW Secretary-Treasurer Gary Casteel that a formal announcement about establishing a voluntary union would be made later on Thursday.
The UAW withdrew its legal challenge just hours before a hearing was slated to begin in April. Casteel told Reuters at the time that they were worried that "objectionists" would delay the process and take the focus off Tennessee workers.
By Amanda Becker | Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Grant McCool
Copyright Reuters, 2014
