UAW Says False Charges Won't Stick

January 24, 2005

"The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represents the worst kind of anti-union employers, just can't stand it when workers speak for themselves," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. "Their false charges against our union won't stick."

The allegations in the lawsuit filed today by the RTW Foundation have already been settled or dismissed by the National Labor Relations Board. Most recently, in November 2005, two Bush appointees to the NLRB stated that briefs filed by the Right to Work Committee "do not support collusion by the parties" and dismissed RTW objections to a union representation election at Freightliner's Thomas Built Bus plant in High Point, N.C.

A majority of workers have voted in favor of union representation at six Freightliner facilities since 2003, including manufacturing plants in Gastonia, and Cleveland, NC in January 2003; at Freightliner's pre-inspection delivery facility in Cleveland NC and at a parts depot in Duluth, Ga., in May 2003; and at a parts depot in Memphis, Tenn., in March 2005.

At Freightliner's Thomas Built Bus plant in High Point, a majority of workers voted in favor of union representation during a March 2004 card-check election supervised by a neutral third party, and again by even a larger margin in a July 2005 election supervised by the NLRB.

At each Freightliner location where a majority of workers have elected to become part of the UAW, a bargaining committee has been elected and negotiated agreements with the company.  These agreements, which raise wages, lower health care costs and improve working conditions, have been

ratified by large margins.

"Every time workers have a chance to speak, they speak loud and clear in favor of having a union and a good contract," said Gary Casteel, director of UAW Region 8.  "Since we began organizing, the company has been hiring workers, which shows that our contracts are good for our members, the company and the community.

"We've been dealing with these people for more than two years now, and every time we win another vote, they come up with another reason why it shouldn't count," said Niels Chapman, President of UAW Local 5287 in High Point.  "But in a democracy, votes do count.  We're not going to let a group that takes money from employers stop us from exercising our rights."