UAW’s Volkswagen win in TN is first step in plan to organize southern, western states

The United Auto Workers (UAW) made history by winning its unionization vote at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 19, 2024. The final tally was 2,628 to 985, with a stunning 73% of eligible employees voting in favor of joining the UAW. The employees of Volkswagen’s Chattanooga factory are the first in the southern United States to vote in favor of unionization since the 1940s. This is especially stunning given that the UAW’s efforts at organizing the same factory in 2014 and 2019 failed.

UAW’s plan

The landslide win is expected to provide crucial support to UAW President Shawn Fain’s $40 million campaign to expand the union’s membership outside of Detroit and into the southern and western United States by 2026. The union has publicly set its sights on 13 nonunion auto companies, including Mercedes, Toyota, and Tesla.

The UAW claims to have majority support for unionization at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Vance, Alabama, where an election will take place on May 13 and 17. In addition to the Mercedes-Benz factory, the union claims more than 30% of employees at a Hyundai plant in Alabama and a Missouri Toyota auto parts factory have signed cards indicating they want to join the UAW.

Impact of NLRB rule changes on representation elections