JEFFREY BROWN:

Among others, Republican U.S. Senator Bob Corker, once the mayor of Chattanooga, and a group called the National Right to Work group argue that unionization will jeopardize jobs. And Republicans who control the state legislature have threatened to withdraw millions of dollars in tax incentives for Volkswagen if the UAW wins.

Upping the ante, Senator Corker yesterday released this statement, saying: "Should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new midsized SUV here in Chattanooga."

That was quickly disputed by Frank Fischer, chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga. He said: "There is no connection between our Chattanooga employees' decision about whether to be represented by a union and the decision about where to build a new product."

The voting at the Chattanooga plant continues through tomorrow.

And now two views of what's at stake in this vote.

Vincent Vernuccio is director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free market research center in Michigan. And Harley Shaiken is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in labor issues.

Well, Harley Shaiken, let me start with you.

How big a deal is this and why does the UAW see a window of opportunity here?

HARLEY SHAIKEN, University of California, Berkeley: Oh, it's a very big deal.

I think what's at stake is the UAW and Volkswagen working together to create a new U.S. model to compete globally. That's a very big deal, in large part because you're going to have a works council representing all employees. You're going to have the UAW as the union bargaining with Volkswagen on economic issues. And you have a very advanced plant.

What fuels this model is worker input at every stage of the manufacturing process. It's new for the U.S., but Volkswagen has used this model in all its plants worldwide, with the exception of two in China, and one in Chattanooga. And, of course, in Chattanooga, that could change by tomorrow night.