The UAW drives south as the union makes the most of its Big Three momentum
On the road again… Tomorrow, a 4K-worker Volkswagen factory in Tennessee (the company’s only US plant) will begin voting on whether to join the United Auto Workers union. If the UAW is successful, the plant will become the first car factory in the South to unionize through an election in 80 years — and the only unionized auto plant in the US not owned by Detroit’s Big Three (GM, Ford, Stellantis). It’s a major test for the UAW, which has set its sights on the South after scoring major wage gains for autoworkers last fall, following its historic simultaneous strikes against the Big Three carmakers.
Horsepowered: Unionizing VW in the US could lead to higher labor costs for the Beetle icon. After last fall’s UAW deal, Ford said its production costs would rise by $900/vehicle, and GM said it expects $1.3B more in labor expenses this year.
On deck: This month, a 5K-worker Mercedes plant in Alabama (making lucrative luxury SUVs) also filed to hold a union vote, which the UAW hopes will happen in May.
Southern traffic’s clearing up… Organizing the South ain’t easy: VW’s plant has voted against unionizing twice in the past decade. The region’s right-to-work laws (which allow workers to opt out of paying union dues) make organizing tougher. Now union popularity is surging, and the UAW has the Biden admin’s backing. 10K+ workers at 13 nonunion automakers have signed union cards with the UAW since last fall, and the union has pledged $40M toward organizing Southern plants.
The best offense is a really good offense… The UAW’s deal with the Big Three netted union members 30%+ raises. That caught the eye of nonunion workers, and the UAW has jumped on the momentum. To hold on to workers, nonunion carmakers including Toyota, Tesla, Honda, and Subaru have already hiked factory wages — the “UAW bump.”