Workers at Volkswagen's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will vote next month on possibly joining the UAW. The union said last month that a majority of workers at the Mercedes plant near Tuscaloosa had also signed union cards. The UAW announced its organizing campaign last fall after it won strong contracts with Detroit automakers.
The National Labor Relations Board said Monday that the election will take place from April 17 to 19 at the plant, in the first test of the union's effort to organize nonunion automobile factories across the nation. Workers at the 3.8 million square foot factory with more than 4,000 production workers filed paperwork March 18 seeking the election.
Both sides reached agreement to have the election in April, the NLRB said.
The UAW announced its organizing campaign last fall after it won strong contracts with Detroit automakers. The UAW said it would simultaneously target more than a dozen nonunion auto plants including those run by Tesla, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Honda, and others.
The drive covers nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in the South, where the union thus far has had little success in recruiting new members. The UAW said a supermajority of the VW plant's production workers had signed cards supporting union representation, but it would not provide a number. A union can seek an election run by the NLRB once a majority of workers support it. The union has come close to representing workers at the VW plant in two previous elections. In 2014 and 2019, workers narrowly rejected a factorywide union under the UAW.
The UAW pacts with Detroit automakers include 25% pay raises by the time the contracts end in April of 2028. With cost-of-living increases, workers will see about 33% in raises for a top assembly wage of $42 per hour, plus annual profit sharing.
