Why the UAW Lost Again in Chattanooga
The UAW’s continued defeats in the South are not a reflection of the workers who live there — but the result of anti-union smear campaigns and the union’s shallow organizing approach.
A worker walks under cars on the assembly line at a Volkswagen factory. The Chattanooga plant is one of the only Volkswagen facilities in the world without a union. (Sean Gallup / Getty)
It was a bad sign. On the day voting began at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the shift change suddenly turned blue.
Throngs of workers were passing through the factory turnstiles in both directions, as the day shift ended and the night shift began. On the preceding days, handfuls of union supporters in bright green shirts were there to hand out flyers and banter with their coworkers.
But on Wednesday, instead of bustling union activists, a sea of workers passed quietly through the turnstiles wearing the blue anti-union “One Team: I Am Volkswagen” shirts provided by the company.
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