The Center for Worker Freedom, an anti-union group sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, is placing multiple billboards around a Chattanooga, Tenn., VW factory that houses 2,500 workers in an effort to spread the word that employees do not have to join the United Auto Workers ahead of a unionization vote scheduled for next week.
The billboards draw attention to the UAW's expenditure of member dues on "overtly partisan" activities.
"UNITED AUTO OBAMA WORKERS; The UAW spends millions to elect liberal politicians including BARACK OBAMA," one reads. Another highlights a Reuters story that found that "almost every job lost at U.S. car factories in the last 30 years has occurred at a unionized company."
The billboards are being put up less than a week after company officials refused to allow workers to invite anti-union speakers to campaign at the plant. The company has allowed organizers and representatives from labor groups access to its employees. A group of more than 600 workers issued a new petition on Monday calling for equal time between the union supporters and opponents.
"Volkswagen team members are entitled to be provided with all available information concerning their options, as well as the potential implications of those choices," VW employee Mike Burton said in a letter sent to company officials that was first obtained by Nooga.com. "We are simply asking that the team members be provided with information to assist them in making an informed decision."
The union election is scheduled for Feb. 12 with the polls closing Feb. 14.