The United Auto Workers said Friday that Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the union — marking a major milestone for labor organizing and its first successful organizing effort by an automaker outside of Detroit’s Big Three.
The union organization passed with 73 percent of the vote, or 2,628 workers, supporting the UAW, according to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election. A total of about 3,620, or about 84%, of VW’s 4,326 eligible workers voted in the election, the NLRB said. Seven ballots were challenged and three were cancelled.
“In a historic victory, an overwhelming majority of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the UAW,” the union said. said in a statement Friday night before the official results were released by the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB. “While votes continue to be counted, the result is clear: Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are the first Southern auto workers outside the Big Three to win their union.”
The NLRB must still certify the outcome, but barring any unexpected issues or challenges, the company is obligated to negotiate in good faith with the union. Conversations can be direct or go through a mediator first.
The sides have five business days to file objections to the election, according to the NLRB. If there are no objections, the result will be certified.
Volkswagen confirmed the UAW’s victory in a statement Friday night but offered little additional comment.
“We will await certification of the results by the NLRB,” the company said. “Volkswagen thanks its Chattanooga workers for voting in this election.”
UAW leaders and supporters are expected to use the victory as a starting point for the union’s unprecedented organizing campaign by 13 car manufacturers in the US, after major contracts won last year with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler.
President Joe Biden, who has strongly supported organized labor and the UAW, congratulated the union on its “historic vote.”
“Across the country, union organizers won big victories and big raises, including auto workers, actors, dock workers, truck drivers, writers, warehouse and healthcare workers and more. Together, these union victories helped raise wages and demonstrated once again that the middle class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.” Biden said in a statement.
UAW President Shawn Fain and others called this week’s vote the best chance to organize the Volkswagen factory after strikes and record contracts at Detroit assembly plants. These agreements included significant salary increases, reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments and other benefits.
The successful organizing effort comes days after six Republican governors from southern states, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, released a joint statement condemning UAW pressure organize in their states.
“We work tirelessly on behalf of our constituents to bring good-paying jobs to our states. These jobs have become part of the fabric of the automotive industry. Unionization would certainly put jobs in our states at risk – in fact, already this year, all UAW automakers have announced layoffs,” the declaration he said.
Previously, the UAW failed to organize the Volkswagen plant in 2014 and 2019 as it faced greater outside political pressure and worker opposition. Workers rejected union membership by just 833 to 776 votes five years ago.
The union will now aim to negotiate with VW. You will also look at a early organizing voting of Mercedes-Benz workers at an SUV factory in Vance, Alabama.
Workers at the facility earlier this month filed NLRB paperwork for a formal election to join the UAW. Voting for 5,200 workers will take place May 13-17, the NLRB announced Thursday.
“The first thing you need to do to win is believe you can win,” Fain told Mercedes-Benz workers last month. “That this work can be better. That your life can be better. And that these things are worth fighting for. This is why we rise up. That’s why you’re here today. Because deep down you believe it’s possible.”
Fain previously promised to move beyond the Big Three and expand into the “Big Five or Big Six” when its four-and-a-half-year contracts with Detroit automakers expire in 2028.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
