The Volkswagen plant of the United States joins the UAW

The last break was marked by a major labor dispute between American manufacturers and the union representing their workers, the UAW (United Auto Workers).

Its president, Sean Fein, played hardball with the developers and instead won his bet.

Elsewhere, we have followed the issue closely, both on the part of employees working for other brands in North America, and on the part of the manufacturers of these vehicles. Several took the opportunity to improve the conditions of their workers, to avoid a movement of retirees to the UAW.

In the case of Volkswagen, which has a factory in the United States, that of Chattanooga in Tennessee, the workers decided to join the union. Last Friday, a vote was held and 73% of workers voted in favor of the union. The UAW has already tried to unionize the plant, without success. The program becomes the first in the southern United States to join the organization.

It is clear that the success achieved in the last season contributed to the results of the vote.

The Chattanooga plant saw construction begin in 2009 and operations began in 2011. The first car produced there was the Passat sedan, then produced for the US market. At the time, Volkswagen’s goal was to increase its US sales significantly, and it understood that this required American products built on American soil.

Volkswagen ID.4 | Photo : D.Boshouwers

In 2015, the plant began producing the Atlas SUV, and in 2019 it expanded to support the production of an electric vehicle. ID.4 has been assembled there since 2022. Therefore, the factory produces Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport and ID4. In total, 5,500 people work in Chattanooga.

Regarding the vote, in which 83% of the workers participated, Volkswagen remained neutral, not campaigning against the union. Chattanooga was the only Volkswagen plant in the world not represented by a union. The company said it thanks its “employees for voting in this election.” »

What will be interesting to watch is whether factory workers at other automakers will follow suit.