No one likes a sore loser, but the United Auto Workers doesn’t seem to care.

After losing a dramatic vote for unionization at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga in mid-February, the United Auto Workers filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming “intimidation from Republican state legislators” and calling for a new election, the Times Free Press reported.

When two small groups of workers fought the union’s intervention, the United Auto Workers and the Volkswagen Group of America immediately took offense. In a prepared statement, Volkswagen officials said the National Right to Work Foundation and Southern Momentum were unwarranted in their attempts to counter the United Auto Workers’ appeal.

The union argued that the two groups lacked jurisdiction to intercede, since neither was a labor organization or a party to the election.

Both sides in the dispute are alleging the other is engaging in high-pressure tactics, monopolies, gag order violations and unfair practices.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the German-owned factory had bent over backwards to support the United Auto Workers’ quest for unionization.

“If anything, Volkswagen favored the union by giving labor organizers the run of the plant while denying similar access to anti-union workers,” The Journal wrote.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told the Times Free Press that the 712-626 vote against unionization shows workers had “clearly spoken” and that blaming him and other legislators for spoiling the election would set a bad precedent.

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Richard Berkow

Former political news reporter Richard Berkow lost his idealism in the Kennedy years, and his innocence in Vietnam, Lebanon, and the Soviet Union. He hasn’t mellowed since, and can be harassed at [email protected]

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