VW workers in Tennessee vote to join UAW in historic win for Detroit union

Volkswagen
workers
in
Chattanooga,
Tennessee,
have
overwhelmingly
voted
to
join
the
United
Auto
Workers
—
marking
a
major
milestone
for
the
union
and
its
first
successful
organizing
drive
of
an
automaker
outside
of
Detroit’s
Big
Three.

Union
organizing
passed
with
73%
of
the
vote,
or
2,628
workers,
in
support
for
the
UAW,
according
to
the
National
Labor
Relations
Board,
which
oversaw
the
election.
A
total
of
roughly
3,620,
or
about
84%,
of
the
4,326
eligible
VW
workers
voted
in
the
election,
the
NLRB
said.
Seven
ballots
were
challenged
and
three
others
were
voided.

“In
a
historic
victory,
an
overwhelming
majority
of
Volkswagen
workers
in
Chattanooga,
Tennessee,
have
voted
to
join
the
UAW,”
the
union

said
in
a
release
Friday
night
before
official
results
were
released
by
the
NLRB. “While
votes
continue
to
be
tallied,
the
outcome
is
clear:
Volkswagen
workers
in
Chattanooga
are
the
first
Southern
autoworkers
outside
of
the
Big
Three
to
win
their
union.”

The
NLRB
still
must
certify
the
result,
but
barring
any
unexpected
issues
or
challenges,
the
company
is
required
to
bargain
in
good
faith
with
the
union.
The
talks
can
be
direct

or
go
first
through
a
mediator.

The
sides
have
five
business
days
to
file
objections
to
the
election,
according
to
the
NLRB.
If
no
objections
are
filed,
the
result
will
be
certified.

VW
confirmed
the
UAW’s
win
in
a
release
Friday
night
but
offered
little
additional
comment.

“We
will
await
certification
of
the
results
by
the
NLRB,”

the
company
said. “Volkswagen
thanks
its
Chattanooga
workers
for
voting
in
this
election.”

UAW
leaders
and
supporters
are
expected
to
use
the
win
as
a
launching
point
for
the
union’s
unprecedented
organizing

campaign
of
13
automakers
in
the
U.S.
following
major
contract
wins
last
year
with
General
Motors,
Ford
Motor
and
Chrysler
parent
Stellantis.

President
Joe
Biden,
who
has
heavily
supported
organized
labor
and
the
UAW,
congratulated
the
union
on
its “historic
vote.”

“Across
the
country,
union
members
have
logged
major
wins
and
large
raises,
including
auto
workers,
actors,
port
workers,
Teamsters,
writers,
warehouse
and
health
care
workers,
and
more.
Together,
these
union
wins
have
helped
raise
wages
and
demonstrate
once
again
that
the
middle-class
built
America
and
that
unions
are
still
building
and
expanding
the
middle
class
for
all
workers,”

Biden
said
in
a
statement.

UAW
President
Shawn
Fain
and
others
saw
this
week’s
vote
as
the
union’s

best
shot
at
organizing
the
VW
plant
following
the
strikes
and
record
contracts
at
the
Detroit
automakers.
Those
agreements
included
significant
wage
increase,
reinstatement
of
cost-of-living
adjustments
and
other
benefits.

The
successful
organizing
drive
comes
days
after
six
Republican
governors
of
Southern
states,
including
Tennessee
Gov.
Bill
Lee,
released
a
joint
statement

condemning
the
UAW’s
push
to
organize
in
their
states.

“We
have
worked
tirelessly
on
behalf
of
our
constituents
to
bring
good-paying
jobs
to
our
states.
These
jobs
have
become
part
of
the
fabric
of
the
automotive
manufacturing
industry.
Unionization
would
certainly
put
our
states’
jobs
in
jeopardy
—
in
fact,
in
this
year
already,
all
of
the
UAW
automakers
have
announced
layoffs,”

the
statement
said.

The
UAW
previously
failed
to
organize
the
Volkswagen
plant
in
2014
and
2019
as
it
faced
greater
outside
political
pressure
and
worker
opposition.
Workers
rejected
union
membership
by
just
833
to
776
votes
five
years
ago.

The
union
will
now
set
its
sights
on
negotiating
with
VW.
It
will
also
look
to
an

anticipated
organizing
vote
of
Mercedes-Benz
workers
at
an
SUV
plant
in
Vance,
Alabama.

Workers
at
the
facility
earlier
this
month
filed
NLRB
paperwork
for
a
formal
election
to
join
the
UAW.
The
vote
for
5,200
workers
will
occur
from
May
13
through
May
17,
the
NLRB
announced
Thursday.

“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
four-and-a-half-year
contracts
with
the
Detroit
automakers
expire
in
2028.