More than 1,000 VW workers in Tennessee sign union representation cards - UAW (updated)
07/12/2023 19:03
(Adds no immediate VW comment in paragraph 4)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers
union said on Thursday that more than 1,000 factory workers at
Volkswagen AG's VOWG_p.DE Chattanooga, Tennessee assembly
plant have signed union authorization cards.
Last week, the UAW said it was launching a first-of-its-kind
push to publicly organize the entire nonunion auto sector in the
U.S. after winning record new contracts with the Detroit Three
automakers.
The UAW, which said 30% of workers at the VW plant had
signed cards, has outlined its organizing strategy that says if
30% of workers at a nonunion plant sign cards seeking to join,
it would make that public.
VW, which employs about 3,800 at the plant that produces the
Passat and Atlas, did not respond to requests for comment.
If 50% of workers seek to join, the UAW would hold a rally
with UAW President Shawn Fain to tout the effort. At 70% and
with an organizing committee in place, the UAW would seek
recognition or demand a union representation vote.
The Detroit-based UAW said workers at 13 nonunion automakers
were announcing simultaneous campaigns across the country to
join the union, including at Tesla TSLA.O , Toyota 7203.T ,
Volkswagen, Hyundai 005380.KS , Rivian RIVN.O , Nissan
7201.T , BMW BMWG.DE and Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE .
Those automakers employ nearly 150,000 workers at their U.S.
assembly plants, about the same number as those employed by the
Detroit Three companies with which the UAW just signed new labor
agreements.
The UAW's deals with General Motors GM.N , Ford Motor F.N
and Stellantis STLAM.MI included an immediate 11% pay hike and
25% increase in base wages through 2028, cuts the time needed to
reach top pay to three years from eight years and is boosting
the pay of temporary workers by 150% and making them permanent.
VW said last month it would hike pay for factory workers in
Tennessee by 11%, joining several foreign automakers who have
announced significant pay and other compensation improvements in
response to the UAW contracts. Many analysts and industry
officials saw the move as an effort to keep the UAW out of their
plants.
The UAW for decades has unsuccessfully sought to organize
auto factories operated by foreign automakers. Efforts to
organize Nissan plants in Mississippi and Tennessee failed by
wide margins, and two attempts to organize VW's plant in
Chattanooga narrowly failed. In 2019, VW workers at the plant
voted 833 to 776 against union representation.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and
Lisa Shumaker)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))