Last week, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted down a proposal to join the United Auto Workers union. The UAW had expected to win that vote, and the rejection is seen as a blow to efforts to expand membership by unionizing plants in the south.
Micki Maynard, editor of Curbing Cars, has covered the auto industry for media outlets including the New York Times, and she’s currently a visiting professor at Arizona State University.
She says the vote went against unionization partly because of influence from local business owners who don't want to see unions come to the area.