From Reuters: UAW says workers at VW Tennessee plant file for union election
UPDATE: President Biden supports the union drive: "I congratulate the Volkswagen autoworkers in Chattanooga who filed for a union election with the UAW. As one of the world's largest automakers, many Volkswagen plants internationally are unionized," said Biden in a statement tonight. "As the most pro-union president in American history, I believe American workers, too, should have a voice at work. The decision whether to join a union belongs to the workers."
EDITOR'S NOTE: We received the following text message from the UAW: "(UAW Text Alerts) Today, Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga filed for their election to join the UAW. Just 100 days after they started signing union cards, VW are ready to Stand Up and vote YES for their union: http://lil.ms/ojfb/agwvls"
By DAVID SHEPARDSON AND JOSEPH WHITE
WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - Workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant are seeking an election to join the United Auto Workers union, setting up a critical test for UAW President Shawn Fain's unprecedented campaign to expand the union's reach to foreign-owned automakers in the southern United States.
The UAW said a supermajority of eligible workers at the VW plant have signed union cards in about three months. The workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a vote to join the union. It would be the third time in ten years that the UAW has sought to represent VW Chattanooga workers.
For more than two decades, the UAW has tried and failed to organize non-union U.S. auto assembly plants established by Asian and European automakers, mostly in southern states with laws and political leaders that are hostile to unions. The UAW has not organized workers at Tesla or other electric vehicle startups such as Rivian.