VW workers in Tennessee will vote in April on whether to join UAW

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant will vote in April on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, a test of UAW President Shawn Fain's campaign to expand the union's reach to foreign-owned automakers.

The April 17 to April 19 election marks the third time in 10 years that the UAW has sought to represent the Chattanooga workers. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said on Monday the ballot count will begin at 8 p.m. EDT after the third day of voting ends.

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 last week said a supermajority of 4,300 eligible workers at VW's Chattanooga plant have signed union cards in about three months.

Winning a vote to organize the plant would be a significant milestone for the union in an election year where both U.S. President Joe Biden and his presumptive Republican rival Donald Trump are aggressively courting votes from UAW members in Michigan and other industrial swing states.

After winning record new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers last fall, Fain launched a first-of-its-kind campaign to organize the entire non-union auto assembly sector in the United States, initiating simultaneous organizing efforts at non-union operations owned by Toyota, Mercedes, Hyundai and other automakers.

The UAW has not organized workers at Tesla or other electric vehicle startups such as Rivian.

VW, which produces the Atlas and ID.4 at the plant, said on Monday: "We respect our workers' right to a democratic process and to determine who should represent their interests. We fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy on this important decision."

In 2019, VW workers in Chattanooga rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote. Earlier efforts to organize Nissan Motor plants in Mississippi and Tennessee also failed.

The UAW said earlier this month that more than 30% of workers at a Toyota factory in Missouri are seeking to join the union. The union also said last month that a majority of hourly workers at a Mercedes Benz Alabama factory have signed union authorization cards. Fain met with workers at the Alabama plant over the weekend.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)