VW Tennessee plant workers file for union election

Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant workers are looking for an election opportunity to join the United Auto Workers union, setting a critical testing ground for UAW President Shawn Fain, who has been actively trying to expand the union’s reach to foreign-owned automakers in the Southern United States.

According to UAW, a great majority of workers at the Volkswagen plant have already signed the union cards in a period of about three months. Additionally, the workers have filed a petition with the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a vote to join the union, making it the third time in the last decade that the UAW has sought to represent Volkswagen Chattanooga workers. 

Interestingly, the UAW has tried and failed to organise non-union US auto assembly plants established by Asian and European automakers for the last 20 years. In the Southern states with stricter laws and political leaders hostile towards unions, the UAW has not been able to mobilise the workers, including the workers at Tesla or other EV startups like Rivian.

Therefore, winning a vote to organise the Volkswagen assembly plant would be a landmark moment for the UAW in an election year where both U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump are not leaving any stone unturned when it comes to amassing votes from the UAW members in Michigan and other industrially-inclined states.  

In a statement released by the White House, Biden congratulated the workers and highlighted that many VW plants internationally were unionised. “As the most pro-union president in American history, I believe American workers, too, should have a voice at work. The decision whether to join a union belongs to the workers,” Biden said.

After the aggressive tussle with the Detroit Three last fall, Fain launched an unprecedented campaign to organise the entire non-union auto assembly sector in the United States, while simultaneously initiating organising efforts at non-union operations owned by Toyota, Mercedes, Hyundai and other automakers.