VW Chattanooga On Verge Of Unionization After UAW Secures Majority Support

The United Auto Workers union says that it has majority support at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its goal is to reach 70% before it demands recognition from the German automaker. That might happen sooner than expected considering just how fast support appears to be growing.

It was less than 60 days ago when the union announced that some 30% of workers at the plant had signed union cards. Now, the UAW says that the “majority of workers” have signed up to join the union. That would make the plant the very first to garner that sort of support among non-union automaker plants.

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The movement appears to be gaining steam like a snowball rolling down a hill. “The excitement has been building, and now that we have reached 50%, it is just continuing to grow. New organizers are joining each day spreading our effort to every area of the plant,” said Zach Costello, a Volkswagen worker and trainer in the plant’s Proficiency Room.

“Just because we are in the South, it does not mean that our work is worth less, that our benefits should be diminished, or that we don’t have rights. All workers should have a voice, and I hope the success that we’re having here is showing workers across the country what is possible,” he continued.

Another worker expressed the impetus behind the shift toward a union movement. “We realized that the working conditions could be a lot better,” said Victor Vaughn, a logistics team member at Volkswagen.

“And the employees, we don’t have a say in any of the decisions that are going on within the plant. We’re not being recognized as a major resource for the company. We have a very important job, to put a vehicle on the road that our families are buying, that our kids are riding in. We take pride in what we do, but we don’t have a voice in how we operate. That’s why we’re taking the lead.”

This plant isn’t the end of the union drive among non-union plants either. Workers at Mercedes and Hyundai have also launched public campaigns to join the union.