A Volkswagen worker celebrates results of the unionization vote. (Getty Images)
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee — Staff at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant have voted to affix the United Auto Staff, in a seismic victory for the union because it drives beyond its Detroit base into the U.S. South and West.
A majority of eligible employees forged ballots in favor of the union, with the ultimate tally on Friday at 2,628 to 985, or 73% for joining the UAW.
The victory will make the Chattanooga factory the primary auto plant within the South to unionize via election for the reason that Forties and the primary foreign-owned auto plant within the South to achieve this.
The victory is a big shot within the arm for UAW President Shawn Fain’s campaign to unionize plants owned by greater than a dozen automakers across the U.S., including Tesla. Fain and his team have committed to spending $40 million through 2026 on the trouble.
Jubilant employees, some in tears, raised their arms in victory and held aloft “Union Yes” posters as the outcomes were announced.
“I’m exhilarated that we actually completed what we set out to perform,” said VW worker Lisa Elliott as she hugged her coworkers. “Tell Mercedes they’re next,” she cheered.
A Mercedes plant in Alabama, at which a majority of employees have signed cards indicating they support unionization, might be the following facility to carry a UAW election, through the week of May 13.
Although the UAW narrowly lost votes at the identical plant in 2014 and 2019, this 12 months’s vote was preceded by surging public support for unions and successful contract negotiations last 12 months with the Big Three automakers.
“The margin is overwhelming,” said Harley Shaiken, professor of labor at University California, Berkeley. “This can be a historic moment.”
VW took a neutral position on the vote at its only non-union factory globally. The UAW has previously represented VW employees at a Pennsylvania plant that built Rabbit cars before it closed in 1988.
For a long time, the union has struck out at southern auto plants, where anti-union sentiment has long been entrenched. Earlier this week Republican governors in six southern states including Tennessee spoke out in opposition to the union drive.
Along with the 2 narrow losses at VW previously, the UAW sustained three more significant misses at southern factories owned by Nissan, the last in 2017 in Mississippi.
However the broader labor movement has since passed through somewhat of a renaissance, with a record variety of employees across various industries occurring strike last 12 months.
Last autumn U.S. President Joe Biden walked picket lines outside Detroit, where the union scored double-digit percentage raises in addition to cost-of-living increases from General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis. That sparked a wave of hikes by non-union automakers that some analysts said were designed to maintain out unions.
Biden rebuked the Republican governors in an announcement after the vote. “I’ll proceed to face with American employees and stand against Republican’s effort to weaken employees’ voice,” said Biden, who’s running for re-election this 12 months.
Along with the Mercedes plant, the UAW has said that greater than 30% of employees at a Hyundai plant in Alabama and at a Missouri Toyota auto parts factory have signed cards indicating they need to affix the UAW.
Pro-union employees on the VW plant say they’ve campaigned to secure improved safety on the job, higher work-life balance and improved advantages.
“Now that it’s official I can chill out,” said Robert Crump, who has worked at VW for 12 years, and voted yes in all three union elections. “It’s a extremely good feeling.”
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
