Volkswagen employees and the company have still not agreed on a contract after more than a year and a half of negotiation. The employees’ union has started talking about and training for a strike if their demands aren’t met. Local 3 News has a story about how a strike might affect the Chattanooga economy in the short and long runs. They interviewed CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall about his views:
“If there’s a strike, that means that they’re not getting paid. And for VW, it means that they’re not producing anything, so they’re not selling anything,” Wall explained.
He warned that the ripple effects could extend far beyond the factory floor.
“The long-term implications of an actual strike would be really bad because Volkswagen would say it’s just not worth it. Other places will say it’s not worth it. Future expansions cannot happen.”
Wall added that a walkout could reshape perceptions of the South as a reliably business-friendly region.
“It’ll be interesting to see what the workers here think, because it used to be thought that, well, at least they’re not radical workers. But maybe they are more radical than we thought.”