Volkswagen union vote in Tennessee to test UAW’s power after victories in Detroit

DETROIT
—


Volkswagen
workers
in
Chattanooga,
Tennessee,
will
vote
this
week
on
whether
to
organize
with
the
United
Auto
Workers
in
a
key
test
of
the
union’s
sway.

A
victory
would
give
the
UAW
its
first
major
automaker
win
outside


General
Motors,


Ford
Motor,
and
Chrysler
parent


Stellantis.
It
would
also
offer
a
launching
point
for
the
union’s

unprecedented
organizing
campaign
of
13
automakers
in
the
U.S.
following
major
contract
wins
in
2023
with
the
Detroit
companies.

A
loss
would
mark
the
Detroit-based
union’s
latest
organizing
failure
following
decades
of
unsuccessful
drives
outside
the
Big
Three,
including
at
the
Tennessee
VW
plant
in
2014
and
2019.
It
also
would
be
a
major
setback
for
the
UAW
and
President
Shawn
Fain,
who
was
elected
in
2023
as
a
reform
candidate
following

a
yearslong
federal
corruption
scandal
involving
former
union
leaders.

More
than
4,000
VW
workers
are
eligible
to
vote,
beginning
Wednesday
and
ending
at
8
p.m.
EDT
on
Friday.
The
organizing
vote,
which
is
being
overseen
by
the

National
Labor
Relations
Board,
will
need
a
simple
majority
to
succeed.

Fain
and
others
see
this
week’s
vote
as
the
union’s
best
shot
at
organizing
the
VW
plant
following
the
record
contracts
and
strikes
at
the
Detroit
automakers,
which
launched
Fain
to
international
prominence
as
the
face
of
the
union
last
year.

The
UAW’s
record
contracts
with
the
three
major
Detroit
automakers
is
the
biggest
difference
between
the
current
union
drive
and
previous
efforts
at
Volkswagen,
said
Stephen
Silvia,

author
of “The
UAW’s
Southern
Gamble:
Organizing
Workers
at
Foreign-Owned
Vehicle
Plants.”

“This
is
by
far
the
best
chance
for
the
UAW
out
of
all
its
drives
at
Chattanooga,”
he
said.

Silvia,
a
professor
at
American
University
in
Washington,
D.C.,
said
the
political
circumstances,
company
messaging,
and
Fain’s
leadership
all
created
a
more
favorable
environment
for
the
union
than
it
had
during
previous
organizing
drives.

Volkswagen,
which
has
union
workers
at
non-U.S.
plants,
has
said
it
will
let
its
workers
determine
whether
to
organize.
The
company
said
it
has
only
acted
to
clarify
information
it
felt
was
misleading
or
incorrect
related
to
issues
such
as
wages
and
benefits,
but
it
has
not
publicly
opposed
union
organizing.
It
also
launched
a
campaign
called
“Vote
for
the
workplace
you
want,”
encouraging
all
employees
to
do
so.

“We
respect
our
workers’
right
to
a
democratic
process
and
to
determine
who
should
represent
their
interests,”
VW
said
in
a
statement. “We
fully
support
an
NLRB
vote
so
every
team
member
has
a
chance
to
a
secret
ballot
vote
on
this
important
decision.
Volkswagen
is
proud
of
our
working
environment
in
Chattanooga
that
provides
some
of
the
best
paying
jobs
in
the
area.”

In
addition
to
less
political
pressure
in
the
right-to-work
state,
there
are
also
fewer
organized
efforts
against
the
union
than
during
prior
drives.
One
group
called “VW
Chatt
workers,
for
VW
Chatt
workers”
in
recent
weeks
started
opposing
UAW
organizing,
including
a
“Still
No
UAW”
website.

A
member
of
the
group
who
asked
not
to
be
identified
due
to
repercussions
if
UAW
organizing
is
successful
said
he
fears
the
union
could
cause
problems
at
the
plant,
including
the
possibility
of
layoffs
as
if
workers
win
more
benefits
during
negotiations.

The
assembly
employee,
who
has
more
than
10
years
at
the
plant, said
it’s
not
guaranteed
that
the
German
automaker
will
agree
to
the
same
wages
and
benefits
as
GM,
Ford
and
Stellantis.

“The
Big
Three,
they
got
a
decent
contract
…
but
we’re
not
the
Big
Three,”
said the
veteran
worker. “They’re
bigger
companies
[in
the
U.S.]
and
when
contracts
come
into
play
with
negotiations,
it’s
not
going
to
be
the
same.”

He
said
this
UAW
organizing
drive
feels
different
than
the
past
two
because
there
is
less
outside
political
pressure,
the
union
has
new
leadership
and
organizing
tactics
and
more
new
workers
are
supporting
the
union
at
the
plant.

VW
workers
filed
for
the
election
in
March
after
a
supermajority
of
them
signed
union
cards,
according
to
the
UAW.
The
VW
workers
reached
a
majority
in
early
February
—
two
months
after
launching
their
public
campaign
to
join
the
UAW.

Unlike
prior
organizing
efforts,
the
union
is
using
a
grassroots,
or
bottom-up,
drive
led
by
workers
at
the
plant
rather
than
leaders
at
the
international
union.
The
strategy
has
helped
messaging,
Silvia
said.

In
2019,
VW
workers
at
the
Chattanooga
plant
rejected
union
representation
in
an
833-776
vote.

“Right
now,
we
just
need
a
voice
in
the
plant.
Right
now,
we’re
subject
to
the
whims
of
the
company,”
said
Isaac
Meadows,
an
assembly
worker
who
has
been
at
the
VW
plant
for
14
months. “There
are
a
lot
of
issues
that
we
want
to
have
a
say
in,
and
by
coming
together
to
form
our
union,
it
puts
us
in
a
position
to
bargain
all
that
stuff.”

Meadows
said
he
makes
$27
an
hour
and
that
his
top
priorities
are
pay,
benefits
and
additional
time
off.

VW
production
workers
at
the
plant
earn
between
$23.40
per
hour
and
$32.40
per
hour,
with
a
four-year
ramp
up
to
top
wages,
according
to
the
company.

UAW-negotiated
wages
this
year
for
the
Detroit
carmakers
range
between
about
$25
an
hour
and
$36
an
hour
for
production
workers,
including
estimated
cost-of-living
adjustments.
By
the
end
of
the
UAW
contracts
in
2028,
top
wages
are
expected
to
surpass
$42
an
hour
for
production
workers.

“The
guy
building
the
Ford
Explorer,
he’s
worth
about
double
to
Ford
as
to
what
we
are
to
Volkswagen,”
said
Meadows.
He
added
that “everybody
was
watching”
the
outcome
of
the
UAW’s
talks
with
the
Detroit
automakers.

The
UAW has
used
the
new
wages
and
other
benefits
as
rallying
calls
for
non-organized
auto
workers
to
join
the
union.

VW
is

one
of
13
non-union
automakers
in
the
U.S.
that
the
UAW
set
its
sights
on
late
last
year
after
securing
record
contracts
with
the
Detroit
automakers.
The
drive
covers
nearly
150,000
autoworkers
across
BMW,
Honda,
Hyundai,
Lucid,
Mazda,
Mercedes-Benz,
Nissan,


Rivian,
Subaru,


Tesla,
Toyota,
Volkswagen
and
Volvo.

Factory
workers
at
Mercedes
Benz’s
assembly
plant
in
Alabama
earlier
this
month

filed
NLRB
paperwork
for
a
formal
election
to
join
the
UAW.

“The
first
thing
you
need
to
do
to
win
is
to
believe
that
you
can
win,”
Fain
told
Mercedes-Benz
workers
last
month. “That
this
job
can
be
better.
That
your
life
can
be
better.
And
that
those
things
are
worth
fighting
for.
That
is
why
we
stand
up.
That’s
why
you’re
here
today.
Because
deep
down,
you
believe
it’s
possible.”

Fain
previously
vowed
to
move
beyond
the
Big
Three
and
expand
to
the
“Big
Five
or
Big
Six”
by
the
time
its
4½-year
contracts
with
the
Detroit
automakers
expire.