The latest UAW workers’ union expansion is historic. The team at VW Chattanooga are the first southern auto workers outside Detroit’s Big Three to join UAW. Here’s to hoping it will be a net positive for the future of the U.S. automotive industry.
UAW’s full name is the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. Founded in 1935, it has maintained major bargaining power in Detroit because its members work at GM, Ford, and Chrysler plants. As the Detroit Three expanded to plants in the southern U.S., those new workers voted to join the UAW too.
Today, foreign automakers have built factories all across the southern U.S. Toyota has plants in Texas, Alabama, and Kentucky. Honda also has a plant in Alabama. Nissan operates plants in Tennessee and Mississippi. Hyundai/Kia have factories in Alabama and Georgia. Mercedes-Benz is in Alabama. BMW builds its SUVs in South Carolina. Many of these workers are unionized, but not with the UAW. Until today.
VW Chattanooga, Tennessee, joins the UAW
According to the UAW, Volkswagen’s Chattanooga “workers voted 3-to-1 to join the UAW in 2024.” They established a negotiating committee, and with the UAW’s help, they negotiated a 20% “across-the-board wage increases.” They also negotiated higher quality health care, safety standards, and job protections…