NOT OVER YET? VW workers reject the UAW: Here’s what it means … and what’s next.

UAW officials suggested on Friday evening that the union is considering a legal challenge to the election. UAW President Bob King said he was “outraged” by statements made by Tennessee Republican politicians in the days before the election. . . . King implied that such comments amounted to unlawful threats under federal labor law.

The UAW’s indication that it may challenge the election raises novel issues under federal labor law. VW promptly management repudiated Corker’s statement and had earlier signed an agreement with the UAW to remain neutral during the election campaign. Federal labor law provides that unlawful threats and promises made by third parties during an election campaign can be attributed to either an employer or a union under traditional principles of agency law. In addition to convincing the NLRB that the statement should be considered an unlawful threat (not a sure thing), the UAW would have to prove that Sen. Corker was acting on behalf of the company. This seems implausible, given VW’s publicly-stated positions. Moreover, Corker’s statements may well be immune from legal challenge under the US Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” clause, which shields lawmakers from litigation or even having to defend themselves, so long as they were engaged in “legislative activity.”