UAW wins organizing election at VW Tennessee plant

The United Auto Workers achieved a historic organizing victory Friday night at a Volkswagen AG plant in Tennessee as workers voted overwhelmingly to join the union in a three-day election. 

The vote count was 2,628-985, or 73% in favor, according to results posted by the National Labor Relations Board.

"Volkswagen Chattanooga workers voted in favor of union representation in their workplace this week," the automaker said in a statement. "The vote was administered through a democratic, secret ballot vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. ... We will await certification of the results by the NLRB. Volkswagen thanks its Chattanooga workers for voting in this election."

The factory, employing more than 4,300 hourly workers who build the ID.4 electric vehicle and two versions of the Atlas SUV, is the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to organize. In recent years, the UAW had narrowly failed to win approval at the same VW plant twice before, in 2019 and 2014, and also came up short in an election at a Mississippi Nissan plant in 2017. 

But riding tailwinds from last fall’s strikes that garnered rich new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers — plus broad public support for unions generally of late — the UAW finally pulled off the win in a state that takes pride in a low unionization rate and its right-to-work law. 

In announcing the victory, the UAW sent out remarks from several VW workers who had supported the organizing campaign.

“People in high places told us good things can’t happen here in Chattanooga," Kelcey Smith, a paint department worker, said in the union's release. "They told us this isn’t the time to stand up, this isn’t the place. But we did stand up and we won. This is the time; this is the place. Southern workers are ready to stand up and win a better life.”  

Added Zachary Costello, a trainer in VW’s proficiency room: “You see the pay, the benefits, the rights UAW members have on the job, and you see how that would change your life. That’s why we voted overwhelmingly for the union."

In its own release detailing the results, VW said there had been 83.5% turnout in the election. The German automaker took a neutral position ahead of the vote, issuing a statement prior to the election that “we respect our employees’ right to decide who represents them in the workplace.” The Chattanooga plant was the company’s only nonunion factory in the world. 

The NLRB said Volkswagen must now begin to bargain in good faith with the union for a contract.

Organizing the VW plant was the union’s first step in a larger $40 million push to convert other auto plants around the South operated by companies such as BMW AG, Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. 

Douglas Snyder, a Volkswagen employee and member of the volunteer union organizing committee, remarked in a text message to The Detroit News following the election results that, "It’s no longer the big three," who are UAW members and "there’s a new sheriff in town."

A second UAW election, at a Mercedes-Benz Group facility outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is scheduled to run May 13-17, the NLRB said earlier this week. The union has also said it’s working on organizing a Hyundai plant near Montgomery, Alabama. 

Workers in favor of joining the union at VW said in the days leading up to the vote that this time felt different, and they didn’t have to be as secretive about their organizing efforts as in previous elections. 

They told The Detroit News they wanted to join the union for the usual reasons around wages, benefits and vacation time, but some also flagged concerns about plant safety and ergonomics. Worker Patricia McFarland, 56, said she favored unionization “because work conditions can be a whole lot better, the pay could be a whole better, the benefits could be a whole lot better.”  

But the UAW’s campaign also received some stiff opposition in the final days before the election, including from local and state Republican leaders. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee visited Chattanooga earlier this month and publicly made the case that workers voting for the union would be making a “big mistake” and could “risk their futures.” 

A coalition of six southern governors including Lee also issued a joint statement this week arguing the UAW’s larger organizing push would threaten the region’s jobs and values. Some politicians flagged the union’s left-leaning politics in recent days as well. President Joe Biden joined UAW leaders on a picket line in Michigan last fall, and the union endorsed the president for reelection earlier this year. 

"Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers," Biden said in a statement late Friday night. "I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen."

A website and Facebook page calling itself “Still No UAW” also popped up in the lead-up to the election, featuring videos of VW workers opposed to the union. 

One of the “no” vote workers was Dirk Horvath, a seven-year VW worker who delivers parts to the line. He told The News on Thursday, as the vote was underway, that the UAW’s presence would only introduce new tension into his workplace. 

“Unions have a tendency to create a hostile work environment between the administration and the workforce,” he said. 

He added: “There’s no reason for representation in the plant. VW bends over backwards for us.”

Several other politicians quickly weighed in on the UAW's organizing victory late Friday.

"Make no mistake: this is a massive win for ALL American workers," U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, posted on social media. "The UAW is fighting for the future of the middle class and I'm proud to stand with them. Everyone should be able to join a union."

Added U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.: "Let me congratulate the brave Volkswagen workers in Tennessee for winning a landslide victory to join the UAW. This historic union victory in the South shows that when workers stand up for economic justice and against corporate greed there is nothing they cannot accomplish."

lramseth@detroitnews.com

@lramseth