Union Wants VW Plant Election Results Tossed

The United Auto Workers union, after its defeat at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, has filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board, asking that the results be declared invalid and another election be held. The union maintains that coercive statements by a number of conservative politicians tainted the vote. What’s novel in this approach, says Foley & Lardner attorney Richard M. Albert, is that the allegation is in reference to an outside party, not the employer. There’s not much precedent for the union’s position, he says, but nonetheless employers should consider it an indicator of a shifting social and political milieu and pay attention.