UAW files for election to organize VW's Tennessee plant

Workers at Volkswagen AG’s Tennessee plant will again try to organize with the United Auto Workers after filing with the National Labor Relations Board to have a union election, the Detroit union said Monday.

This is not the first time the UAW has pursued an organizing drive at the plant. In 2019, VW workers at the plant voted 51.8% against union representation. There also was a narrow defeat in 2014.

VW Chattanooga workers were the first to launch a public campaign to join the UAW in its fight to organize non-union automakers across the country following the union's strike last fall against the Detroit Three automakers that ended with significant pay hikes and other gains. The VW employees will now be the first to file for a union election with the NLRB.

“Today, we are one step closer to making a good job at Volkswagen into a great career,” said Isaac Meadows, a production team member in assembly, in a statement released by the union. “Right now, we miss time with our families because so much of our paid-time-off is burned up during the summer and winter shutdowns. We shouldn’t have to choose between our family and our job. By winning our union and a real voice at Volkswagen, we can negotiate for more time with our families.”

In February, the UAW said a majority of the workers at the German automaker's only U.S. plant had signed cards to join the union. The facility employs about 5,500 workers and produces the ID.4, Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport, according to VW.

The UAW intends to double its autoworker membership with campaigns at more than a dozen automakers.

When 50% of workers sign authorization cards at a plant, the UAW has said it will hold a rally there. At 70% support, the UAW would demand recognition from the company, or request an election.

The UAW in early March said 30% of workers at a Toyota Motor Corp. subsidiary plant in Missouri had signed union authorization cards. The facility is the first Toyota plant to meet the union's threshold to announce a public campaign.

The union has also announced that a majority of workers at Mercedes-Benz Group's Tuscaloosa plant in Alabama signed cards to join the union. Hyundai Motor Co. workers in Montgomery, Alabama, also have an ongoing public organizing campaign after 30% of them signed cards to join the union. The UAW has committed $40 million to the organizing efforts at automakers and battery manufacturers through 2026.

(Detroit News staff writer Breana Noble contributed.)