The main entrance to the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. picture alliance / dpa | Erik S. Lesser
Workers at VW’s US plant in Chattanooga have decided to unionize for the third time.
It is a major victory for the US union UAW, which wants to expand its influence beyond the three American car giants.
According to VW and the union, 73 percent of workers voted to be represented by the UAW in the vote that ended Friday. The result still has to be confirmed by the US authority NLRB.
Workers at VW’s US plant in Chattanooga have decided to unionize for the third time. It is a major victory for the US union UAW, which wants to expand its influence beyond the three American car giants. According to VW and the union, 73 percent of workers voted to be represented by the UAW in the vote that ended Friday. The result still has to be confirmed by the US authority NLRB.
The union has failed twice in recent years to organize workers at the Tennessee plant. However, the UAW currently has a tailwind: Last fall, after a weeks-long strike, it pushed through better working conditions and income increases of around 25 percent at the US companies General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The union has so far had a difficult time in the southern US states and in the factories of foreign car manufacturers. It has also not yet managed to get a foot in the door with the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
With 3,613 votes cast, 83.5 percent of workers took part in the vote. 2,628 of them voted for UAW representation. IG Metall at Volkswagen emphasized on Saturday that Chattanooga was the only factory in the core VW brand without employee representation. The president of the European and global works council at Volkswagen, Daniela Cavallo, said the workforce in Chattanooga had “written a piece of US union history.”
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with dpa