Workers on the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to hitch the UAW for the primary time this week … [+]
April 20, 2024: This story has been updated to incorporate the official results of the vote and comments from UAW President Shawn Fain.
The United Auto Workers broke through many years of frustration when staff on the Volkswagen automobile plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to hitch union representation – the primary foreign-owned U.S. plant to accomplish that.
“Tonight we celebrate this historic victory, this historic moment in our country and in the history of our globe,” UAW President Shawn Fain told Volkswagen staff in a victory speech that might be seen within the union’s video below. “And tomorrow we will fight. You are the pioneer. We will continue this fight at Mercedes and everywhere else.”
The vote was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, which late Friday reported a final tally of two,628 yes votes and 985 no votes. According to NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Blado, three ballots were invalid and 7 weren’t counted because “they are not critical to the outcome of the election.”
In the vote, which took place from Wednesday to Friday evening, 4,326 employees were eligible to vote.
“Volkswagen thanks its Chattanooga workers for voting in this election,” the automaker said in a news release confirming the outcomes of the vote.
“We saw the big contract that UAW workers won with the Big Three, and that got everyone talking,” said Zachary Costello, a trainer in Volkswagen’s skills room, referring to General Motors, Ford and Stellantis .
“You see the pay, the benefits, the rights that UAW members have in the workplace, and you see how that would change your life,” he added UAW publication declared victory while the ballot papers were being counted. “That’s why we voted overwhelmingly for the union. Once people realize the difference a union makes, there is no way to stop them.”
President Joe Biden issued an announcement congratulating Volkswagen staff for voting to hitch the union and called out a bunch of Southern governors who tried to dissuade them from voting yes.
“Six Republican governors wrote a letter attempting to influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would jeopardize jobs in their states. “I want to be clear to the Republican governors who tried to undermine this vote: There is nothing to fear when American workers use their voice and their legal right to form a union if they wish,” Biden said.
There are several steps required before UAW representation for staff on the VW plant in Chattanooga becomes official.
Volkswagen must “begin negotiate in good faith with the union,” said Blado. Now that voting is complete, “the parties have five business days to file objections to the election. If no objections are raised, the result will be certified,” Blado explained in an email.
In fact, negotiating this primary contract is just not a simple task, Fain said during an interview to preview the vote.
“That’s the hard part,” Fain said. “You know, people put so much emphasis on the election. The election is important because you have to vote to organize and get the first contract, but you know, the first contract will also be a big deal.”
The UAW needed a win. Its membership fell to 370,239 last 12 months, in accordance with the union’s annual report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this month. That’s down from 383,000 in 2022 and the bottom since 2009.
The UAW may have just a number of weeks to rejoice this initial victory before 5,000 staff at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama vote to hitch the union. Voting for staff at an SUV plant in Vance and a battery plant in Woodstock, each near Tuscaloosa, is scheduled for May 13-17.
“This is a pivotal moment for workers across the South and the rest of the country,” Brenda Muñoz, co-chair of the University of California-Berkeley Work Center, said in an announcement. “Foreign automakers can no longer rely on Southern states to provide cheap labor at the expense of working families. The workers have had enough. They proved this by voting for a union. There is nothing cheap about these workers who work hard every day and want a family-supporting job and a quality life. Workers understand their value in building an economy that works for everyone and demand respect and their fair share of the rewards.”
At the conclusion of contract negotiations with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis last fall, Fain promised that the following round of negotiations in 2028 could be expanded by the Detroit Three to perhaps five or eight firms, automakers with non-union staff who voted to hitch voted UAW.
The union generally uses an initial agreement with one company to set the pattern for contracts with the others. That would not change even with an expanded group.
“We’re not going to negotiate a great deal with the Big 3 and say we’re not going to enforce that with other companies, or we’re not going to negotiate a great deal with Volkswagen or somewhere else and say we don’t want the workers.” “To have that said Fain in our interview earlier this month. “I mean, we will set a normal and we expect the automotive firms that we represent to follow that standard.”
