Tennessee Volkswagen workers vote on union membership in test of UAW’s plan to expand its ranks

By KRISTIN M. HALL and TOM KRISHER
Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Ballots are being counted at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the United Auto Workers union is optimistic it will win a vote to decide whether it will represent the factory’s 4,300 production workers. Union observers watching Friday night’s vote count by the National Labor Relations Board reported that the UAW was winning 2,628 to 985 in tallies about an hour after voting ended. The totals could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, and the NLRB said it would not release totals until all ballots are counted. The vote is a key test of the union’s drive to expand its reach to nonunion factories across the South and elsewhere.