Workers at Volkswagen’s factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are set to vote on whether they want to be represented by the United Auto Workers union in April. The election, scheduled from April 17 to 19, will be the first test of the union’s effort to organize nonunion automobile factories across the nation. More than 4,000 production workers at the factory have filed paperwork seeking the election, with both sides reaching an agreement to hold the vote in April. The UAW announced its organizing campaign last fall, targeting over a dozen nonunion auto plants, including those run by Tesla, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Honda, and others.
The UAW’s organizing drive covers nearly 150,000 workers at factories primarily in the South, where the union has had limited success in recruiting new members. A supermajority of the VW plant’s production workers have reportedly signed cards supporting union representation, although the exact number has not been disclosed. Volkswagen has stated that it respects the workers’ right to a democratic process and to determine who should represent their interests, pledging to fully support the NLRB vote to ensure every team member has a chance to vote in privacy. Despite opposition from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who believes employees should keep their future in their own hands, some VW workers express the need for a union to have a say in their schedules, benefits, pay, and more.
The UAW has previously come close to representing workers at the VW plant in two previous elections, with workers narrowly rejecting a factorywide union in 2014 and 2019. In 2019, after the 2014 vote failed, 160 Chattanooga maintenance workers won a vote to form a smaller union, but the company refused to bargain, arguing that production workers should also be included. In February, the union announced that a majority of workers at a Mercedes plant in Alabama had signed union cards, marking another milestone in its organizing efforts. Following strikes against major automakers in Detroit, the UAW secured significant pay raises and benefits for its members, prompting nonunion factories to announce worker pay increases.
While VW provided workers with an 11% pay raise in November, the union argues that their pay still lags behind Detroit automakers. Top assembly plant workers in Chattanooga currently make $32.40 per hour, compared to the UAW pacts with Detroit automakers that include 25% pay raises by 2028, with a top assembly wage of $42 per hour plus annual profit sharing. The outcome of the upcoming union vote at the VW plant in Chattanooga will not only impact the workers at the factory but also have broader implications for the future of unionization efforts in nonunion auto plants across the country. The results of the election will be closely watched by both labor advocates and industry stakeholders as they await the decision of the workers on whether to be represented by the UAW.
