David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Workers at Volkswagen’s (ETR:) assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will vote in April on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, testing UAW President Sean Fein’s campaign to expand the union’s outreach to foreign workers. owned by automakers.
The April 17-19 election will mark the third time in 10 years that the UAW has sought to represent Chattanooga workers. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said Monday that vote counting will begin at 8 p.m. ET after the end of the third day of voting.
For more than two decades, the UAW tried unsuccessfully to organize nonunion auto assembly plants in the U.S. set up by Asian and European automakers, mostly in Southern states whose laws and political leaders are hostile to unions.
The UAW reported last week that the vast majority of the 4,300 eligible workers at VW’s Chattanooga plant had signed union cards in about three months.
Winning the vote to organize the plant would be a major milestone for the union in an election year when both U.S. President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican rival Donald Trump are aggressively seeking votes from UAW members in Michigan and other industrial swing states.
After winning record new contracts with Detroit Three automakers last fall, Fein launched a first-of-its-kind campaign to organize the entire non-union auto assembly sector in the United States, while also launching organizing efforts at non-union owned plants. Toyota (NYSE:), Mercedes, Hyundai (OTC:) and other automakers.
The UAW did not organize workers at Tesla (NASDAQ:) or other electric vehicle startups such as Rivian (NASDAQ:).
VW, which makes the Atlas (NYSE:) and ID.4 at the plant, said Monday: “We respect our workers’ right to the democratic process and the right to determine who should represent their interests. We fully support the NLRB vote, so every team member has the opportunity to vote privately on this important decision.”
In 2019, VW workers in Chattanooga rejected union representation by a vote of 833-776. Earlier efforts to set up Nissan (OTC:) Motor plants in Mississippi and Tennessee also failed.
Earlier this month, the UAW said more than 30% of workers at Toyota’s Missouri plant were seeking to join the union. The union also said last month that most hourly workers at the Mercedes Benz (ETR:) plant in Alabama had signed union permits. Over the weekend, Fein met with workers at the Alabama plant.