It is a historic victory for the powerful US auto union UAW: For the first time, it represents the rights of women and workers at a foreign car manufacturer in the traditionally anti-union south of the country USA. The employees voted with a majority of 73 percent of the votes Volkswagenplant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Friday for the UAW.
Some had tears in their eyes when the result was announced. “I am overwhelmed that we have achieved what we set out to do,” said VW employee Lisa Elliott happily, hugging her colleagues. “Tell Mercedes they’re next,” she shouted. At the Mercedes plant in Alabama, the vote on union representation is scheduled for mid-May.
According to the works council, the VW factory in Chattanooga was the only major production site in the Wolfsburg group where the employees had no workforce representation. In the past, the UAW had failed on several attempts, although most recently by just a few votes.
The victory is a major victory for UAW President Shawn Fain’s effort to unionize the workforce of more than a dozen U.S. automakers, including Tesla. “You have just done the most important thing a working class person can do – you have stood up,” he told workers at the election party. “You lead the way, we will take this fight to Mercedes and everywhere else.”
Support from US President Biden
This time, the UAW received tailwind from an unprecedented wave of strikes in the fall, with which Fain wrested huge salary increases from the Detroit car manufacturers Ford, General Motors and the Stellantis subsidiary Chrysler. This is what the US President said Joe Biden (81) clearly sided with the union and called on VW workers to vote. The Republican governors of six southern US states, including Tennessee, spoke out against the union at the beginning of the week. The VW Group itself took a neutral position, Works council boss Daniela Cavallo (49) had campaigned for the UAW
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In the USA there is no company co-determination as in Germany. Only a union can conclude collective agreements and collective work regulations; without union representation, each employee must negotiate themselves. The UAW is traditionally represented among Detroit car manufacturers, but not at foreign manufacturers such as Volkswagen or Toyota – at least so far.