Employees at a Tennessee auto plant have voted against union representation.

Workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant voted against United Auto Workers representation.

According to Volkswagen, 89 percent of employees voted in the election, and 53 percent of participants decided against allowing the UAW to be their bargaining representative.

The election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board from February 12th through the 14th.

“On behalf of the Volkswagen Group of America, I want to thank all of our Chattanooga production and maintenance employees for their participation in this week’s vote,” said Frank Fischer, CEO and chairman of Volkswagen Chattanooga.

Fischer said that their employees have not made a decision that they are against a works council, however.

“Our goal continues to be to determine the best method for establishing a works council in accordance with the requirements of U.S. labor law to meet VW America’s production needs and serve our employees’ interests,” Fischer said.

UAW President Bob King weighed in, saying “While we certainly would have liked a victory for workers here, we deeply respect the Volkswagen Global Group Works Council, Volkswagen management, and IG Metall for doing their best to create a free and open atmosphere for workers to exercise their basic human right to form a union.”

Not all UAW managers were as soft-spoken as King.

UAW Region 8 Director Gary Casteel said “Unfortunately, politically motivated third parties threatened the economic future of this facility and the opportunity for workers to create a successful operating model that would grow jobs in Tennessee.”

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