A majority of workers at the Ultium Cells battery plant in Spring Hill signed a card to join the United Auto Workers. The company voted Wednesday to recognize the union without a vote.
Ultium, a joint venture between General Motors and Korean company LG Entergy Solution, produces battery cells for electric vehicles. The plant has 1,000 employees.
The other U.S. Ultium plant in Ohio voted to join the UAW in 2022 and won a new contract this summer.
In 2023, the UAW won favorable new contracts after a strike against GM and the other two major U.S. automakers, Ford and Stellantis. At the time, GM agreed to accept a union without elections at its Ultium plants if a majority of workers wanted to unionize. Most U.S. companies today insist on federally monitored elections even when a majority of their workers sign cards to unionize.
After the strike, the UAW turned its attention to the South, where unions have historically been weak. The results were mixed.
In April, nearly three-quarters of workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga voted to join the UAW. In May, however, the UAW lost a vote at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, even though a majority of workers there had signed cards to join the union.
Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Spring Hill Ultium EV Factory Workers Join UAW Union
