(Reuters) - The United Auto Workers, surprising even its supporters, on Monday abruptly withdrew its legal challenge to a union organizing vote that it lost at a Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee in February.

Just an hour before the start of a National Labor Relations Board hearing on the challenge, the union dropped its case, casting a cloud over its long and still unsuccessful push to organize foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S. South.

VW workers due to testify in the NLRB hearing were already at the courthouse in downtown Chattanooga when they heard the news, which left lawyers in the hearing room wondering how to proceed.

UAW President Bob King, whose term expires in June, had vowed four years ago to successfully bring the union into a foreign-owned Southern plant. Three years ago, he said that unless the union was able to do so, its future was in jeopardy.

Explaining the decision to drop the case, King said the NLRB election appeal process might have taken years to complete.

"The UAW is ready to put February's tainted election in the rearview mirror and instead focus on advocating for new jobs and economic investment in Chattanooga," King said in a statement.

He did not explain why the union had waited until the 11th hour to withdraw its case.

Labor experts said the move would allow the union to devote more energy to trying to win representation at other Southern plants: the Nissan Motor Co plant near Jackson, Mississippi where the UAW has sought worker support for more than two years; or the Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz plant near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The UAW could also now work for a new election in Chattanooga. But they will have to wait at least until 2015. NLRB rules prohibit the same group of workers from voting again in the 12 months following a valid election.

"It's a significant setback for the UAW," said Dennis Cuneo, a pro-management attorney with long auto industry experience. "Losing the election, then pursuing an appeal only to withdraw it at the last minute. It has to be seen as a huge setback."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/2...eedName=topNews

Interesting. UAW has the NLRB in its hip pocket plus the support of Volkswagen itself. And yet...

Thoughts?

Could it be that their case was so bad that even the NLib would have to decide against them. If I recall, the unions main argument is that there was political influence involved and that somehow queered the deal. The Rats could be drawn into this for their past involvement trying to unionize stuff through political influence.