UAW Signs Up Majority of VW Plant’s Staff After Detroit Wins (1)

The United Auto Workers Union says it has signed up the majority of employees at Volkswagen AG’s Tennessee plant, teeing up a high-stakes test of the union’s ability to expand its ranks following its record Detroit contract wins.

In November, the UAW announced an audacious effort to organize 13 automakers’ non-union plants, including Toyota Motor Corp., Tesla Inc., and Nissan Motor Co. facilities. The union, which represents around 265,000 automaker or auto parts employees, is aiming to organize around 150,000 more workers at those firms. VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory is the first of those locations where the union says it’s secured over 50% support. It previously announced signing up more than 30% of employees at Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Hyundai Motor Co. facilities in Alabama.

Under US law, a company can voluntarily recognize and negotiate with a union once a majority of workers have signed union cards, or can refuse to do so unless the group first wins a government-run election. The UAW has said it will seek recognition once it has 70% of a plant signed up.

“Momentum’s picked up in a big way,” said Zach Costello, a six-year VW employee who’s a member of the Tennessee plant’s UAW organizing committee. The union’s successful strike last year against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and Stellantis NV, which ended with agreements that will boost many union members’ pay by a third or more, “was massively influential in waking people up” at the VW factory, Costello said. “It really turned a lot of people to our side.”

Read More: Tesla, Trump Are Next Targets for Union Hero After Big UAW Win

In an emailed statement Tuesday, VW said, “We respect our workers’ right to decide the question of union representation.” The company said in December that it has a “world-class production environment” at the Chattanooga plant and believes in “frequent, transparent, and two-way dialogue” with employees. The plant has around 4,000 employees according to the union.

The UAW has seen membership plummet over the past half-century, and has suffered defeats in the past at several of the targeted companies. Employees at the VW plant voted narrowly against unionization during ballots in 2014 and 2019, both of which were marked by vocal opposition from Tennessee politicians.

This time around, the UAW has filed pending complaints with the US National Labor Relations Board accusing VW of illegally restricting distribution of pro-union literature and discussion of union organizing.

VW said Tuesday that it “refutes any claims of union-busting, intimidation or illegal violations of worker rights” at the plant, and that it was “committed to providing accurate information that helps inform them of their rights and choices.”

The Center for Union Facts, a business-backed nonprofit, on Monday announced plans to place billboards in cities including Chattanooga advertising a website that criticizes the union’s political stances, contracts, and past corruption scandals.

In an interview last month, UAW President Shawn Fain said the union’s Detroit victories showed workers can accomplish impossible-seeming goals. “I was told I was crazy for what we were asking for,” Fain said. “I know people say it’s crazy going after all these companies — I don’t think it is. I think workers are ready. I think now is the time.”

Along with talking to coworkers on the job and on Facebook, VW workers have also been offering advice and encouragement to non-union workers organizing at other companies’ plants. The UAW’s success or failure in Chattanooga could be a key bellwether for such efforts. “We have to win this,” organizing committee member Victor Vaughn said. “There’s a lot riding on the line with this campaign.”

(Updates with VW comment starting in fifth paragraph.)

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Josh Eidelson in Palo Alto at jeidelson@bloomberg.net

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Chester Dawson at cdawson54@bloomberg.net

Peter Vercoe, Elisabeth Behrmann

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