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Volkswagen: Can the United Autoworkers Union win in the American south?
1 day ago
By Natalie Sherman,
Business reporter, New York

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BBC Yolanda PeoplesBBC
Yolanda Peoples has worked on prior union drives that failed during her 13 years at
Volkswagen
Yolanda Peoples has tried for more than a decade to convince her co-workers at
Volkswagen's factory in the southern state of Tennessee that joining the United
Autoworkers Union (UAW) would pay off in increased job security, higher wages and a
more comfortable retirement.

Colleagues in Chattanooga have twice rejected the idea.

Now, as her factory faces another vote on the question, this daughter and
granddaughter of UAW members thinks she might finally have made her case.

"The whole atmosphere feels different," she said. "They understand more about what
we're fighting for."

The election, which involves roughly 4,300 workers and starts on 17 April, is the
first to emerge from a campaign UAW leaders announced last year to try to win new
members at 13 foreign-owned car factories based in the south.

The share of workers represented by unions has fallen steadily in the US since the
1980s.

But the pandemic ushered in an unusually hot jobs market and rapid rise in living
costs, emboldening workers across the country to make demands.

The number of mass strikes and petitions from workers hoping to join unions jumped
in 2022 and 2023, drawing in Hollywood actors, UPS delivery drivers, Starbucks
baristas, nurses, casino workers and others.

Getty Images Hospitality workers picket outside Hotel Figueroa in downtown Los
Angeles on April 5, 2024.Getty Images
The US has seen increased labour unrest
Since 2021, there has even been a small uptick in the number of union members.

At the top of both political parties, President Joe Biden and former president
Donald Trump have paid close attention to the signs of worker discontent,
abandoning the free-trade orthodoxy that dominated both US political parties for
decades in favour of protectionist economic policies long championed by organised
labour.

"More people are demanding better pay, a piece of the action and a lot of this is a
post-Covid thing," says Kent Syler, professor of political science at Middle
Tennessee State University. "Is it enough in a very red state like Tennessee to
move the needle? It's hard to say."

Prior efforts to unionise in Chattanooga and elsewhere in the south have failed in
the face of fierce criticism from local politicians, Republicans, who warned a vote
for the union could threaten government support for Volkswagen and make the state
less appealing for business investment.

The UAW's ties to the Democratic Party remain a liability on the factory floor,
especially in an election year.

Jeff Irvin Jr, who has worked at the Chattanooga plant since 2010, says he has
supported the union in the past, but is on the fence this time. He says the UAW's
recent endorsement of Mr Biden has given him pause.

"It's hard to back an organisation that backs a president that is failing the
American people on almost every level," he wrote in an email to the BBC.

The UAW, which has seen its sway fall as its membership and slice of the industry
shrank, declared its ambitions last year weeks after a headline-drawing strike won
big pay raises and other benefits for members at General Motors, Ford and
Stellantis.

Zachary Costello
Union supporter Zachary Costello says attitudes have shifted since he started to
work at Volkswagen seven years ago
Those gains helped re-ignite interest, says Jeremy Kimbrell, who has tried, and
failed, to drum up union support repeatedly over his two decades working for
Mercedes in Alabama. He noted that soon after, many rival carmakers, including
Volkswagen, Mercedes and Nissan, announced big wage increases of their own.

"Some of the veteran workers saw it as like a slap in the face - as they could have
given it to us all along," Mr Kimbrell said. "With that big jump [the UAW] got this
time, it was just abundantly clear that that was a better way."

A victory for the union would set factory workers up to pay UAW dues and negotiate
collectively with companies over wages and benefits. Analysts say it could also
convince other factories to follow suit.

As well as Chattanooga, the union is expecting an election at a Mercedes-Benz

factory in Vance, Alabama next month. It has also claimed significant progress
signing up supporters for elections at Hyundai and Toyota.

Campaigners say they are trying to steer clear of national politics and remain
hopeful that shifting attitudes towards organised labour will finally give their
cause a shot.

"It feels way different," said Volkswagen worker Zachary Costello, one of the
union's vocal supporters at the Chattanooga factory. "There's a lot more open
acceptance of unionising across the shifts."

American University professor Stephen Silvia, who has written a book about prior
UAW campaigns in the south, says the organisation has its "best chance" yet of
victory, after refreshing its reputation and approach with new leadership.
Getty Images The UAW endorsed Joe Biden for president in JanuaryGetty Images
The UAW's new boss, Shawn Fain, shakes hands with Joe Biden while endorsing him for
president
He says policies introduced by Trump and Biden to protect US car jobs have also
strengthened the union's ability to demand more for workers without stoking fears
the demands will hurt companies and backfire in the long run.

Volkswagen declined to answer questions about next steps should the UAW win but
said in a statement that it "fully" supported a vote and was "proud" of its record
in Chattanooga - where the average annual salary is more than $60,000.

At firms such as Starbucks and Amazon, union election victories have been bogged
down as companies appeal the outcome or slow-walk contract negotiations.

Volkswagen worker Jose Sandy says there is still "a lot of scepticism" about the
UAW and its ability to make a difference.

Getty Images Jose SandyGetty Images

Jose Sandy
The union need "to deliver on what they have have said they're going to do and it's
not clear to me yet how they're going to do it," says Mr Sandy, who has been
digging into Volkswagen's financial statements, concerned the union's claims about
the company are misleading.

Still, he says he is keeping an open mind and leaning toward a yes vote: "I'm
willing to give them the benefit of the doubt."

GM deal clears way for end to US car strike

Biden secures major endorsement in re-election bid
Trade Unions
US economy
US politics
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