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Empresas y finanzas

UAW wants new talks with Volkswagen to recognize union in Tennessee


    DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers said on Thursday it wants to enter new talks with Volkswagen AG about recognizing the union as collective bargaining agent for workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

    UAW Secretary-Treasurer Gary Casteel said the union made a renewed pitch to the German auto group after a recent filing with U.S. labor officials showed it is supported by 55 percent of hourly workers at the plant.

    The UAW wants to form a German-style works council that would include both blue-collar and white-collar workers. Casteel said Chattanooga is the only VW plant without such a works council.

    In order to form the council, under U.S. labor law, the plant's hourly workers must be represented by a U.S. union with bargaining rights, in order that it not be perceived as a company union.

    Casteel said the union has no plans to call for another election by plant workers. In February 2014, hourly workers rejected the UAW by a 712-626 count.

    VW officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

    (Reporting by Bernie Woodall and Ben Klayman; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)