A failed attempt to extend union recognition into southern manufacturing states erupted in bitter recriminations on Monday as labour leaders across the US accused Republican opponents of “extortion”.

Employees at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga factory in Tennessee voted narrowly against joining the United Auto Workers union despite support from the German company’s largely unionised workforce in the rest of the world.

But warnings from local Republican politicians that recognition would lead to a loss of state subsidies has prompted a sharp attack from several unions, underlining a high-stakes struggle that goes far beyond one car factory.



Union leaders in Washington argue that their declining membership and influence is a major factor behind the decades-long slump in US wage rates and rising social inequality that is increasingly acknowledged as a national problem by both political parties.

Republicans and business lobbyists point to the decline of unionised industrial cities such as Detroit as a reason to oppose efforts to extend labour recognition to thriving manufacturing clusters in traditionally union-free states.

In Tennessee, the campaign against UAW recognition attracted support from conservative activists such as Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers, and warnings from a clutch of local politicians that future Volkswagen investment and state support was at risk if employees voted in favour.

But the vote of 712 to 626 against UAW recognition on Friday evening has led to a clutch of other US unions to speak out, arguing the battle was as an important a milestone as a high-profile campaign against anti-union laws in Wisconsin in 2011.

“The narrow loss in the National Labor Relations Board election Friday would have been just an issue of working Americans exercising their rights if it were not for the despicable interference of Senator Corker, Governor Haslam, Republican state legislators and outsiders like Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers,” the Communication Workers Union said in a statement on Monday.

“These officials will claim that they have free speech rights, whether they are lying or not, or even when they’re engaging in blatant extortion. Chattanooga is the new Madison, Wisconsin.”

Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, added: “This setback won’t stop working people from continuing to unite for a better future. Whether it’s auto workers, fast food workers, Walmart workers, or healthcare workers, more and more people are joining together at work to make their voices heard.”

US senator Bob Corker said his comments warning that future investment was at stake had been misinterpreted by union activists but welcomed the vote.



“Needless to say, I am thrilled for the employees at Volkswagen and for our community and its future,” he said in a statement.

Volkswagen, which has union members on its parent company supervisory board under German law, has stayed officially neutral throughout the battle and insists its investment decisions are not dependent on union recognition.



But a number of local Republican politicians, including Tennessee state senator Bo Watson, were more explicit in linking the vote to future state subsidies – a factor that would have been hard to ignore as VW decides whether build a new SUV model at the Chattanooga plant or one in Mexico.

“Should the workers at Volkswagen choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers, then I believe any additional incentives from the citizens of the state of Tennessee for expansion or otherwise will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee senate,” said Watson in a press conference before the vote.

Governor Bill Haslam also warned that a vote for recognition could hurt the state’s ability to attract investment from suppliers and other companies.

Haslam said he planned to begin talks with VW over state support for a new model at the plant as soon as this week now that the vote was out of the way.