Is Decisive Victory a Harbinger of Results at Other Southern Auto Factories?

After losing two high profile unionization campaigns in the past decade at a VW assembly plant near Chattanooga, TN, including one in which plant management seemed to back the union (See Volkswagen Plant in Chattanooga Votes Against UAW), the United Autoworkers won a decisive victory to organize the factory last week, as the UAW gears up for other union drives at Southern auto sites.

Supply Chain Digest Says...   UAW membership fell 3.3% in 2023 to 370,000, its lowest point since 2009, according to US Labor Department data. In 1970, the union had 1.5 million members. What do you say? Click here to send us your comments

Before this latest vote, labor had been unable to organize any of the dozen or so Southern plants operated by foreign automakers in the US, despite spending a reported $40 million to do so. US-based Tesla factories are also non-union.

But this time, the vote wasn’t close.

With 3,613 ballots counted, the final vote was 2,628 votes in favor of joining the UAW, and 985 votes against unionization, meaning almost three-quarters of workers voted in favor of joining the UAW over the-day voting period.

In 2019, 51.8% of workers voted against the union, while 48.2% supported the UAW. In 2014, the margin was 53.2% against the union and 46.8% for the UAW.

The UAW won despite repeated warnings again from Republican leaders in the state and the business community that unionizing would have negative consequences.

"I believe it would be a big mistake for those workers to risk their future by giving up the freedom to decide it themselves and hand that over to a negotiator on their behalf," Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on a recent trip to Chattanooga leading up to the vote.

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The National Labor Relations Board says both sides will have five business days to file objections to the election. If no objections are filed, the results will be certified, the NLRB said. Contract negotiations should commence shortly from there.

UAW membership fell 3.3% in 2023 to 370,000, its lowest point since 2009, according to US Labor Department data. In 1970, the union had 1.5 million members.

Another unionization vote is set for May 13-17 at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.