Illegal Union-Management Deal Alleged At VW Plant

Three employees at the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have sued the automaker and the United Auto Workers union, alleging that the parties’ neutrality agreement before the recent unionization vote, which the union lost, violated the Labor Management Relations Act. The plaintiffs maintain that office space and permission to meet with workers on company time constituted a “thing of value” as prohibited by the LMRA, and that it was illegally rendered in exchange for concessions that included a no-strike agreement. The legal status of neutrality agreements is unsettled law, with the circuits split on the matter, writes McKenna Long & Aldridge attorney Cary Burke, and there is a scenario by which this case could find its way to the Supreme Court.