Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — Volkswagen AG's top labor leader said he'll continue to fight for a German-style works council at the automaker's plant in Tennessee after a majority of employees voted against joining the United Auto Workers union.

"Outside conservatives created a massively anti-union sentiment," Bernd Osterloh, a VW supervisory board member and head of the automaker's works council, said in a statement. "It's possible that one would come to the conclusion that this influence represents an 'unfair labor practice.'"

Osterloh said he's studying how to still create an employee group at the factory and working with the UAW to confer with U.S. labor law experts on how best to proceed. VW workers, who hold half the seats on the carmaker's supervisory board, would be reluctant to approve further plants in the U.S. South without an agreement ahead of time on employee representation, he said.