UAW files unfair labor practice charges against Ford Bronco parts supplier Webasto

The UAW has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against a company that supplies parts for the Ford Bronco.

The union says German auto supplier Webasto engaged in a variety of improper actions against workers involved in a union drive at a metro Detroit plant on Haggerty Road in Plymouth Township.

Those actions included 17 separate instances, including surveilling union supporters’ cars, inventing a rule requiring that workers text managers before using the bathroom and anti-union retaliation, the union said in a news release this week.

“We know our rights. We are ready to stand up for what’s fair,” Shawnteyia Williams, a worker at Webasto-Detroit, said in the release. “We know that every worker needs to be treated with dignity and respect. These charges are just the beginning of how we plan to unite to hold Webasto accountable.”

Workers at the plant filed for a union election late last month. Several representatives had also met with NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo at a union hall in Livonia describing challenges at the company, particularly after they began organizing, including being labeled as “troublemakers.”

The company acknowledged hiring an outside firm, which it said was “offering comprehensive labor education seminars to our colleagues and management to provide full and undisputed facts on their rights and the implications of union membership.”

The UAW, however, called the company an anti-union firm that it said held captive audience meetings where consultants tried to persuade workers against unionizing.

Company representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A previous company statement said “we comply with all national, federal and international labor regulations. As a matter of fact, we therefore dispute any accusations that state otherwise.”

More: Top NLRB lawyer tells metro Detroit workers agency has their backs

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW files unfair labor practice charges against Ford Bronco parts supplier Webasto