Volkswagen EV ID.4 crossover at the Volkswagen of America plant in Chattanooga, Tenneessee, June 8, 2022.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
DETROIT – Volkswagen workers at a Tennessee plant petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to vote to affix the United Auto Workers, a corporation announced the connection Monday.
The filing comes after “a majority of Volkswagen workers signed union cards in just 100 days,” the union said, marking a milestone within the union group organizing drives to nonunion U.S. auto plants
The UAW had previously failed to arrange foreign automakers within the US. Recently, Volkswagen and Nissan plants didn’t receive the support needed to form a trade union. In 2019, VW workers at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant rejected union representation by an 833-776 vote.
The Chattanooga plant is VW’s only U.S. plant and employs greater than 4,000 auto workers who can be eligible to vote on union representation.
VW confirmed receiving notice that the UAW had petitioned the NLRB to carry the election. The company said it respects its employees’ right to democratic processes and to arrange.
“We will fully support the NLRB vote in order that every team member has the chance to vote in privacy on this necessary decision. The election schedule shall be determined by the NLRB. “Volkswagen is proud of our work environment in Chattanooga, which provides some of the highest-paying jobs in the area,” the corporate said in an emailed statement.
According to the corporate, VW production workers at the plant earn between $23.40 and $32.40 an hour, with their highest salary being 4 years.
VW’s hourly wages are lower than what the UAW negotiated last yr with Detroit automakers, which this yr range from about $25 to $36 an hour for production workers, including the estimated cost of living, or COLA. By the tip of UAW contracts, top wages for manufacturing workers are expected to exceed $42 an hour.
VW is certainly one of 13 unaffiliated U.S. automakers targeted by the UAW late last yr after signing record contracts with Detroit automakers.
The move covers nearly 150,000 auto workers at BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
