The United Auto Workers said late Friday that Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have voted overwhelmingly to join the union — marking a major milestone for the labor organization and the first successful organizing drive by an automaker outside the Big Three of Detroit.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election, union organizing passed with 73% of the vote, or 2,628 workers, in support of the UAW. In total, about 3,620, or about 84%, of the 4,326 eligible VW employees voted in the election, the NLRB said. Seven ballots were challenged and three were declared invalid.
“In a historic victory, an overwhelming majority of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have voted to join the UAW,” the union said in a news release Friday evening before the official results were released by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB ). “While votes are still being counted, the outcome is clear: Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are the first Southern auto workers outside the Big Three to win their union.”
The NLRB must still certify the outcome, but barring any unexpected issues or challenges, the company must negotiate in good faith with the union. The conversations can be direct or first go through a mediator.
According to the NLRB, parties have five business days to file objections to the election. If no objection is filed, the result will be certified.
Volkswagen confirmed the UAW’s victory in a press release Friday evening, but provided little additional comment.
“We are awaiting certification of the results by the NLRB,” the company said. “Volkswagen thanks its employees in Chattanooga for their votes in this election.”
UAW leaders and supporters are expected to use the victory as a launching point for the union’s unprecedented organizing campaign of 13 U.S. automakers, following major contract victories last year with General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis.
President Joe Biden, who has strongly supported organized labor and the UAW, congratulated the union on its “historic vote.”
“Across the country, union members have recorded big wins and big pay increases, including auto workers, actors, longshoremen, teamsters, writers, warehouse and healthcare workers, and more. Together, these union victories have helped raise wages and demonstrated once again that the middle class built America and that unions continue to build and expand the middle class for all workers,” Biden said in a statement.
UAW President Shawn Fain and others saw this week’s vote as the union’s best chance to organize the Volkswagen plant after strikes and record contract deals at Detroit automakers. Those agreements include a significant pay increase, the restoration of cost-of-living adjustments and other benefits.
The successful organizing drive comes days after six Republican governors of Southern states, including Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, released a joint statement condemning the UAW’s efforts to organize in their states.
“We have worked tirelessly on behalf of our constituents to bring good-paying jobs to our states. These jobs have become part of the fabric of the auto industry. Unionization would certainly jeopardize our states’ jobs – in fact, this year, all UAW automakers have already announced layoffs,” the statement said.
The UAW previously failed to organize the Volkswagen plant in 2014 and 2019 as it faced greater outside political pressure and opposition from workers. Five years ago, workers rejected union membership by a vote of just 833 to 776.
The union will now set its sights on negotiations with VW. An expected organizational vote of Mercedes-Benz workers at an SUV plant in Vance, Alabama, is also being considered.
Workers at the facility filed NLRB paperwork earlier this month for a formal election to join the UAW. The vote for 5,200 employees will take place from May 13 to 17, the NLRB announced Thursday.
“The first thing you have to do to win is believe that you can win,” Fain told Mercedes-Benz employees last month. “That this job could be better. That your life can be better. And that those things are worth fighting for. That’s why we stand up. That’s why you’re here today. Because deep down you believe it is possible.”
Fain previously pledged to go beyond the Big Three and expand to the ‘Big Five or Big Six’ by the time the four-and-a-half-year contracts with the Detroit automakers expire in 2028.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
