DETROIT (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers union said Thursday it filed unfair labor practice charges against Volkswagen, saying the automaker is trying to cut jobs at a factory in Tennessee where the union is negotiating its first contract after winning an election there last year.
“The UAW has notified the Trump Administration of Volkswagen’s unacceptable, anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-American conduct,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Volkswagen said it is cutting production in Tennessee to a two-shift model out of caution for lowered EV demand. Workers at the Tennessee plant assemble the ID.4 electric SUV.
The Germany-based automaker is offering production employees a “voluntary attrition program,” including a severance package, retirement options and benefits, the spokesperson said.
“We remain committed to our team members, our customers, and our presence in Chattanooga. This change supports that commitment,” the company said in a statement.
The auto union won an election at the Chattanooga, Tennessee factory last April, making it the first auto plant in the South to unionize via election since the 1940s and the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to do so.
(Reporting by Nora Eckert, Editing by Franklin Paul)