Volkswagen’s works council said it would press on with efforts to set up labor representation at the automaker’s U.S plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee after workers there voted against any such step involving the United Auto Workers union (UAW).

Employees at the plant, in a region traditionally hostile to organized labor, on Friday opted to reject representation by the union, whose membership has plummeted 75 percent since 1979 and now stands at just under 400,000.