- The UAW announced that half the eligible workers at the Chattanooga VW plant signed cards to join the union.
- The UAW failed in two previous attempts to unionize the VW plant.
- Last year, VW won a strike against the big three automakers.
A majority of the workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga signed cards to join a union, the United Auto Workers union announced this week, part of a new push across the South in the wake of the UAW’s recent wins.
The plant, which broke ground in 2009, has 4,100 union eligible workers, according to VW.
“We respect our workers’ right to decide the question of union representation. And we remain committed to providing accurate information that helps inform them of their rights and choices,” said VW in a statement.
The union collected those signatures over the past 60 days, although the union has been quietly organizing at the plant since a failed unionization drive in 2019.
“We’ve been there. From the last vote, we’ve never left,” said Tim Smith, UAW’s director for the Southern states.