In this interview, Glenn Spencer joins us to discuss whether a European-style labor organization called a works councilcould be established at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant. Spencer is the Vice President of the Workforce Freedom Initiative, a division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The group has prepared a new 25-page report, A New Organizing Paradigm? Works Councils and the NLRA. The report argues that the National Labor Relations Act would make it impossible for VW to establish a works council in Chattanooga, even if both the United Auto Workers union and Volkswagen are amenable to it.
The full report is here.
It also gives background on what works councils are and how they complement the role of trade unions in European workplaces, particularly in Germany.
However, the United Auto Workers union disagrees with the idea that a works council cannot happen here. The union released the following statement in response to the report:
“The UAW and Volkswagen worked together in 2014, with advice and counsel from multiple business and labor attorneys who are experts in state and federal laws, to collaboratively develop a works council concept for Chattanooga. Clearly, both the union and the company believed the concept was compatible with state and federal laws, aligned with the UAW’s policies, and consistent with the company’s unique brand of co-determination between management and employees. The U.S. Chamber is unfortunately mistaken.” — Mike Cantrell, president, UAW Local 42
