On December 7, the United Auto Workers announced that over 1,000 workers at Volkswagen of America’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant had signed cards calling for a union election.
The announcement follows promises made after the UAW closed negotiations earlier this year with General Motors Inc., Ford Motor Co., and Stellantis AB. After ratifying deals with the Detroit 3 in November, UAW leadership indicated the union would shift its focus to organize workers at other companies manufacturing cars in the United States, including Tesla, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
The push to unionize the Chattanooga assembly plant comes about five years after a previous attempt to do so failed. In June 2019, 833 full-time employees voted to reject UAW representation, beating 776 who voted in favor of it. UAW leadership at the time went on to accuse Volkswagen of America of intimidating voters to tilt the close election against them.
In an unsigned statement issued by Volkswagen of America on December 7 addressing the new push to unionize, the German company was noncommittal about workers joining a union, but noted the company had recently announced an 11% raise for all workers at the plant and touted its existing benefits package. The November 22 raise was announced two days after November 20, when the UAW announced it had formally ratified new contracts with the Detroit 3.
“We believe in frequent, transparent, and two-way dialogue with our people to help them stay informed and connected and help shape our world-class assembly environment,” Volkswagen said. “We also respect the right of our workers to determine who should represent their interests in the workplace.”
According to one of the organizers, Steve Cochran, younger workers at the factory are agitating to organize. “There are a lot of young workers in the plant now, and this generation wants respect,” he said in a statement. “They see what’s happening at Starbucks and Amazon.”
Other organizing workers in favor of UAW representation cited job placement, forced overtime, and new-worker turnover as specific grievances with the factory.
“Turnover at the plant is a serious problem” said an equipment operator named Josh Epperson aligned with the UAW. “I have trained new people on the line and most of them are gone in a few months. … With a union, we can improve working conditions.”
Volkswagen Chattanooga is larger now than it was in 2019. When Volkswagen of America announced the site would begin manufacturing VW’s ID.4 electric vehicle in July 26, 2022, the company said it currently employed more than 4,000 and was seeking to hire 1,000 more through the end of the year.
