The unions did this. VW opened a big plant in Chattanooga TN. Unions were relentless in trying to get in on it. VW stood strong against them, put it to a vote of the employees, the unions lost. This is payback.
Sorry but I really doubt the line assembly union guys miraculously became software coders and car engineers... the decision to do this to be able to sell these cars with false claims happened at design and engineering time not at the assembly plant.