UAW’s Volkswagen Push Rides on Making Good Tennessee Jobs Better

Volkswagen workers are looking to pull off an improbable victory this week by unionizing the first foreign-owned auto plant on US soil—and in one of the most organized-labor-resistant areas of the country.

The vote at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant, which starts Wednesday and concludes April 19, will test whether a series of post-pandemic wins for the labor movement—punctuated by substantial gains in pay and benefits from the Detroit automakers last year—was a flash in the pan or the start of a seismic shift in the economy.

And it will show how the Biden administration’s pro-union policies fare in the real world.

The United Auto Workers union is betting that the world has has changed since workers at the plant narrowly voted down a union in 2019. That was before a wave of labor unrest highlighted the growing chasm between workers’ wages and CEO pay; President Joe Biden came into office, appointing a pro-union bulldog as the federal labor board’s top lawyer; and dread over the electric vehicle transition boiled over.

The election will hinge on whether workers—who already have some of the best manufacturing jobs in the region—believe that the union can improve their lives without pushing Volkswagen to cut jobs or leave the South entirely, according to interviews with workers, residents, community leaders, and industry observers.

“A lot of people have bought into that concept” of negative consequences, said Victor Vaughn, a union supporter who got involved after being injured his first three weeks on the job. But many people inside the plant—enough to sway the election in the union’s favor—know things are far from perfect, he said.

He recalled the devastated look on the face of a co-worker who was told that his military experience, which included three combat tours, wouldn’t count toward a promotion. And how Vaughn was never offered full medical attention after sustaining a repetitive motion injury that still pains him.

“A person shouldn’t have to come into your work space and feel like you’re less than human, the way you’re being spoken to,” Vaughn said.

Contingency Planning

Despite optimism surrounding the election, the union is already preparing a backup plan in the event of another loss. The UAW already has filed unfair labor practice charges against Volkswagen with the National Labor Relations Board that could lay the groundwork for a broader challenge, alleging that the company illegally intimidated and spied on pro-union workers.

It has filed similar charges against Hyundai in Alabama and Honda in Indiana.

“It’s a recognition that they’re going to use every option that they have,” said Marick Masters, a Wayne State University professor who studies labor relations in the auto industry. “Rightly or wrongly, they think the election process is tilted against them,” he said of the UAW.

The approach has been made possible by the Democratic majority on the NLRB and its General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who have showed willingness to aggressively pursue bad actors.

The board handed down a major decision last year that makes it easier to issue a bargaining order—a default win for the union—in cases where the the union has demonstrated a clear majority and the employer fails to recognize it or file its own election petition. If the employer violates federal labor law in the lead-up to a requested election, the board can order the employer to recognize and bargain with the union.

The board also issued new election procedures that have nearly cut in half the time between when a petition is filed and when ballots are issued.

But a contingency plan won’t be necessary if the UAW’s level of support holds. Leaders are especially counting on a more militant generation of 20-somethings. “The younger generation is actually setting the pace for us old people,” said Steve Cochran, president of UAW Local 42, the union seeking to represent the Chattanooga workers.

Outside the the union hall April 14, 22-year-old Bashaar Al-Hussieni, who has worked on the assembly line for the past nine months, had no doubts about voting yes.

“I feel like I can look forward to the future and know that I’m going to be able to afford a home one day,” he said. “If an unexpected expense comes up I know I can take care of it, and I’m going to put money aside.”

“We’re determined to get it this time,” Al-Hussieni added. “People have been pushed to their limit.”

UAW President Shawn Fain speaks as UAW members and their supporters gather in Warren, Mich., on Aug. 20, 2023.

Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Southern Crossroads

Chattanooga was never a likely spot for a union auto plant. Tucked in the far southeastern corner of Tennessee in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it sits a stone’s throw from the Georgia and Alabama borders at the crossroads of two major trucking thoroughfares, I-24 and I-75.

Recognizing the improbability of their mission, union supporters formed UAW Local 42 in reference to Jackie Robinson, the Black baseball player who 77 years ago this week shattered the sport’s racial barrier in 1947.

A victory for the UAW could kick-start union President Shawn Fain’s ambitious campaign to organize 150,000 auto workers across 13 companies while inspiring workers in other industries to unionize.

But a failure on the first election could sink the effort for good.

Chattanooga is a blue-collar town with a growing urban flair. Despite a population of less than 200,000, it has a bustling downtown with art museums and a world-class aquarium. A refurbished pedestrian truss bridge spans the Tennessee River, connecting downtown and the city’s north shore neighborhood where visitors can visit a gourmet ice cream parlor, craft beer halls, and boutique shops selling Instagrammable potted plants and $78 crystals said to restore inner tranquility.

The city has changed dramatically since 2008, the year Volkswagen broke ground on the 3.8 million-square-foot facility that now employs 5,500 people, about 4,000 of which would be covered by the new union.

In the depths of the Great Recession, unemployment in Chattanooga exceeded 10%.

But in February 2024, the unemployment rate for Chattanooga was 2.7%, a full percentage point below the national rate.

Volkswagen workers already make some of the best wages in the area. Last year, the company voluntarily gave workers an 11% raise after the UAW won pay and benefits increases from the Big Three domestic automakers. That, among other reasons, could cause some workers to feel that they’re doing just fine without a union.

Wages start at $23.40 and top out at $32.40 an hour, competitive for the area but well below the UAW’s top rate of more than $40 under the new contract.

Exactly how much of the city’s progress is due to Volkswagen is up to interpretation, but it has had an effect. Manufacturing employs 14% of the workforce, according to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

Volkswagen is associated with prosperity in the minds of many Chattanoogans. The company says it has donated nearly $10 million to local nonprofits since 2010, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math education.

“They pay good wages, they have great benefits,” said the Rev. Gary Hathaway of Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, whose congregation includes some plant workers. “But I’m not necessarily pro or con. They have been a blessing to the community, I can say that. They’ve hired a lot of people, and a lot of people are working, and probably improving their lifestyles by working there.”

Volkswagen declined a request for interviews with management.

“We respect our workers’ right to a democratic process and to determine who should represent their interests,” spokesman Michael Lowder said in a statement. “We fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to a secret ballot vote on this important decision.”

“Volkswagen is proud of our working environment in Chattanooga that provides some of the best-paying jobs in the area,” he said.

Mending Pitfalls

Supporters packed into local union hall April 14 to feast on hamburgers and hear the battle cry from union leaders and allies. Many wore bright red shirts similar to the one Biden sported in celebration of the UAW last year. Some long-time UAW members drove in from other cities to lend support, waving signs and banners.

The mood was upbeat despite the UAW—and unions in general—having a dismal track record for organizing in the South. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union lost a high-profile election at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, in 2021 that many saw as a vanguard for a new wave of organizing. The results of that election and a subsequent vote are still in dispute after an NLRB official found that Amazon intimidated workers and tainted the outcome.

In 2017, the UAW invested heavily in a campaign at a Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, that went down in flames. Volkswagen elections in 2014 and 2019 were much closer, falling short by fewer than 100 votes.

The union is more confident this time, saying it waited until it had 70% support to file for an election. The outcome will have immediate consequences for workers at a Mercedes plant in Vance, Alabama, who have filed a petition for their own election.

“We’ve looked at a lot of the pitfalls that happened during the last campaign,” said Vaughn, the pro-union Volkswagen worker who was injured. “We know a lot of the things that kind of went wrong.”

Some of the fiercest resistance in the past came not from the company, but from local politicians, said Billy Dycus, president of the Tennessee AFL-CIO. This time, they sought to hold an election as quickly as possible to avoid interference, with state lawmakers busy in Nashville at the end of their legislative session.

That hasn’t entirely shielded the union from criticism, however. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) bluntly said last week that voting for the union would be a “big mistake.”

On Monday, Lee—along with the governors of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas—released a joint statement warning that automakers would flee the South if workers choose to unionize.

“The reality is companies have choices when it comes to where to invest and bring jobs and opportunity,” the governors wrote. “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 automotive manufacturing industry. Unionization would certainly put our states’ jobs in jeopardy.”

“Some of the politicians, even the governor has, you know, started the rhetoric,” Dycus said. “But the difference is we haven’t had months in between for them to continue to ratchet up the pressure on the folks there at the plant. And I think that’s what’s made us more optimistic that this time we’re going to be able to have a union at Volkswagen.”