Aerial view of the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, March 20, 2024 in Tennessee (Getty/AFP/Archives/Elijah NOUVELAGE)
Historic victory for the American automobile union: employees of the German Volkswagen in Tennessee voted by a large majority for the UAW (United Auto Workers) to represent them, a first among foreign automobile factories in the South. UNITED STATES.
The 5,500 employees of the Chattanooga plant voted 73% to be represented by the UAW, according to results released Friday by Volkswagen.
“Volkswagen workers just made history!” the UAW said in a post on X.
Until now, the union had not managed to gain a foothold in any non-American automaker. They have mainly taken up residence in states in the South of the United States that are not very open to unions.
In a statement, VW, which is committed to a position of neutrality, indicated that the three-day vote, which began on Wednesday, “took place with a democratic vote, by secret ballot, monitored by the National Labor Relations Board” ( NLRB), the federal agency responsible for labor law.
“Volkswagen thanks its Chattanooga workers for voting,” added the manufacturer.
The parties have five days to submit their objections, according to the NLRB, which added: “the employer must now begin bargaining in good faith with the union.”
The vote constitutes a major victory for Shawn Fain, new president of the UAW since March 2023, and comes on the heels of the progress made this fall by the “Big 3” – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. The UAW had obtained an average salary increase of 25% over four years, agreements ratified in November after six weeks of a strike unprecedented in its duration.
– Biden welcomes the vote –
After the “Big 3” agreements, the UAW launched an awareness campaign in November among 13 manufacturers, mainly located in the South, employing some 150,000 people in total.
Employees in front of the entrance to the Volkswagen factory, March 20, 2024 in Chattanooga, Tennessee (Getty/AFP/Archives/Elijah NOUVELAGE)
After this first ballot in Chattanooga, the next one is expected from May 13 to 17 in a German Mercedes-Benz factory in Vance (Alabama) which employs 6,100 employees.
The victory in Chattanooga gives additional impetus to the UAW, which also mentioned a factory of the Japanese Toyota in Missouri and another of the South Korean Hyundai in Alabama among those concerned by its campaign.
Employees in front of the entrance to the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga in the United States, March 20, 2024 (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives/Elijah NOUVELAGE)
Candidate for re-election, President Joe Biden, who made a historic visit to a UAW picket line in Michigan in September 2023, welcomed the result of the election. For him, it demonstrates “once again that the middle class built America and that unions continue to build and expand the middle class for all workers.”
In previous elections, including two in Chattanooga, the UAW had previously failed to establish itself in the South. Still, the union must face rejection from local political leaders. An open letter from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, co-signed by five other governors in the region, all Republicans, accused him of jeopardizing the region’s economy and jobs.
Among the signatories, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp assured Friday on CNBC that the governors wanted to protect the local model based on “excellent relations between our employers and their employees”, accusing the UAW of wanting to “destroy” it.
– “A lot of political interest” –
Mr. Biden denounced this open letter as an initiative based on “false” assertions to “undermine the vote” at VW.
For Stephen Silvia, author of a book on the UAW’s Southern Gamble, this election constitutes “a turning point” for unionism and raises the stakes for the one planned in Alabama.
“The South has relied on a model of low wages and minimal expression of workers” and the latter “would like to change”, he explains. “There’s going to be a lot more political interest, not just in Alabama (but also) in Washington.”
© 2024 AFP
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