A historic vote is underway in Chattanooga.
“Over the next three days, Volkswagen workers in Tennessee could change the trajectory of unions in the South. On Wednesday morning, hourly employees at the company’s Chattanooga plant started casting ballots over whether they want to join the United Auto Workers union.
The vote, which closes at 8 p.m. Friday, is one of the most closely watched labor events this year. That’s because of the significance of the Chattanooga plant itself, which the UAW had tried and failed to unionize twice over the past decade — a stark reminder of the union’s waning power.
But today’s UAW has a swagger that it lacked just a couple years ago. It is now emerging from fresh wins in the fall of last year, when the union led a historic strike against the Big Three automakers in Detroit and won big successes at the bargaining table: pay increases of at least 25% over the course of the four-year contract — with a doubling of pay for some newer workers and temps — plus cost-of-living adjustments.
With the wind at its back, the UAW launched a $40 million campaign to appeal to workers at nonunion auto factories, particularly those in the South. The Volkswagen plant is the first to hold an election, and a lot is riding on this vote.
A victory would build momentum as the UAW recruits workers it has long failed to win over, while a loss could cause the union drive to stall out.
The UAW needs a majority of yes ballots cast to declare victory. According to a federal labor filing, 4,300 production and maintenance workers are eligible to vote.
Assembly worker Victor Vaughn, who supports the vote, concedes Volkswagen is a ‘good’ place to work. But he says employees need a forum for the company to address their issues. ‘That’s what we’re striving for — to make it a great place to work.’
The Chattanooga plant, which produces Volkswagen’s Atlas SUV and the ID.4 electric SUV, is the only Volkswagen plant in the world without worker representation.
This week’s union vote is the third one at this plant in a decade. UAW efforts to unionize the autoworkers in 2014 and 2019 ended in narrow defeats. A smaller group of about 150 skilled employees, including electricians and machinists, did vote to join the UAW in 2015, but legal battles over the micro unit caused that union attempt to fail too.”
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