In Tennessee, Republican Governor Bill Lee attended a captive audience meeting of workers at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga Monday, urging them to vote against joining a union in an election scheduled for May. Local media was not told about the governor’s visit to the plant, and reporters were barred from the meeting, but a recording obtained by the news source Labor Notes reveals the governor firmly sided with VW management against unionization.
Gov. Bill Lee: “Every workplace has challenges, and there are things in your workplace that you wish were different. My experience is that when I have a direct relationship with you, the worker, and you’re working for me, that’s when the environment works the best. I do believe.”
Governor Lee’s comments drew both applause and boos from Volkswagen employees. May’s election could see more than 1,700 Chattanooga plant hourly workers join the United Auto Workers, after a similar election drive in 2014 failed by a slim margin.