Workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers, according to an announcement by the labor group on Friday. This landmark decision marks the first time that Southern autoworkers outside of the Big Three have embraced unionization in a region known for its resistance to such efforts.
The UAW celebrated a resounding victory as the votes were being counted. According to unofficial figures, 2,628 employees voted in favor of joining the union, while 985 opposed, resulting in a significant 73% to 27% majority.
In a statement, Volkswagen expressed its gratitude to the Chattanooga workers for voting in favor of union representation. The company acknowledged the workers’ decision and stated that it would await certification of the results by the National Labor Relations Board.
The UAW’s victory in the VW worker’s vote has been officially confirmed by the NLRB. The outcome will be certified unless any objections are raised within the next five days.
President Biden issued a statement on Friday, congratulating the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for their momentous vote in favor of union representation with the United Auto Workers.
The UAW had high hopes as the final ballots were cast on Friday by 4,300 Volkswagen workers. After two unsuccessful attempts in the past, labor advocates were optimistic that the union would finally succeed.
Harley Shaiken, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, expressed the significance of the current events and the decisions that will be made tonight. He emphasized that this moment is crucial not only for the workers in Chattanooga but also for workers in the South and the labor movement as a whole.
According to the union, the plant’s workers had a high likelihood of a UAW victory, as approximately 70% of them pledged to vote in favor of unionization prior to the vote. The voting process, which started on Wednesday, concluded on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
“We are confident that we will emerge victorious, thanks to the overwhelming support we have received from our colleagues and those who were previously undecided,” expressed Victor Vaughn, a dedicated employee at the plant for close to two years and a valued member of the organizing committee, as the ballots were being tallied. “We are a group of highly skilled individuals who are diligent, committed to our families, and genuinely passionate about our work. This is the spirit that resonates throughout the entire South.”
Workers at the plant are hoping to address two primary issues: job safety and healthcare costs, according to Vaughn. Last year, when VW proposed an 11% wage increase, workers were unaware that the company also planned to raise health insurance premiums by 15%, Vaughn explained.
He expressed his surprise, saying, “It was quite shocking for many of us.”
After achieving significant wage gains through a historic six-week strike against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the UAW has now turned its attention towards organizing foreign automakers.
According to John Logan, the chair of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, if the workers at Volkswagen cannot organize, it raises doubts about their ability to organize at other auto plants in the South.
A regional foothold?
The UAW has been making efforts to organize auto factories in the South for many years, but with little success. They have only managed to make progress at a few heavy truck and bus plants in the region. This upcoming vote will be the UAW’s third attempt at the plant, where workers previously rejected union membership by a narrow margin in both 2014 and 2019. Additionally, the UAW faced defeat in a 2017 vote at a Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi.
According to Logan, the UAW’s victory is significant because it provides the union with a crucial presence in the region. Typically, organizing efforts in this area are met with resistance from not only the company but also the wider community, including the political and business leaders.
Vaughn expressed his belief that securing a contract with the UAW would have a positive ripple effect, not only for their plant but also for other plants, including Mercedes-Benz. He made this statement in reference to an upcoming election by autoworkers at the Mercedes plant in Vance and Woodstock, Alabama, scheduled for next month.
Earlier this week, the governors of six states – Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas – expressed their concern over the unionization effort, stating that it poses a threat to jobs.
With this triumph, the Volkswagen factory achieves the distinction of being the sole unionized foreign commercial carmaker in the United States. Additionally, it is the first automotive plant to join the UAW since its initiative aimed at the Big Three automakers in Detroit.
Boosted by Big Three strike
The UAW has seen a surge in interest, thanks to the impressive achievements made during the Detroit Three contract negotiations in the previous year. The majority of the 13 non-union automakers have increased wages in an attempt to discourage unionization, and these advancements have become known as the “UAW bump,” according to Shaiken. Interestingly, this confirms that the UAW is indeed effective in delivering positive results.
Logan pointed out that when it comes to Germany’s Volkswagen, a company with unionized workers worldwide, the resistance to the UAW’s endeavors has been relatively less intense compared to other corporate entities.
Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant stands out as the only facility among its approximately 120 global plants that lacks any form of employee representation.
“We value the democratic process and the right of our workers to choose their representatives. We wholeheartedly endorse the idea of an NLRB vote, giving every team member the opportunity to cast a secret ballot on this crucial matter. At Volkswagen, we take pride in the working environment we have created in Chattanooga, which offers some of the highest-paying jobs in the region,” the company expressed.
