(Reuters) – After a series of victories against the Detroit Three automakers last fall, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain is now trying to use his influence to organize other U.S. auto factories that have stayed out of the union’s ambit.
The UAW has tried and failed for years to organize nonunion U.S. auto factories, most of them built by Asian and European automakers in southern U.S. states where so-called right-to-work labor laws make it optional for workers to pay union dues.
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will vote this week, beginning Wednesday and ending on Friday, on whether to organize with the United Auto Workers union. It would be the third time in 10 years that the UAW has sought to represent VW Chattanooga workers. Winning a vote to organize the VW plant would be a significant milestone for the UAW.
Here is a timeline of UAW’s contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers and its efforts to organize non-unionized factories:
Developments
Date
2023
March 25 Shawn Fain wins the race for UAW president and
vows to take a tough stance against the Big
Three automakers.
April 21 Fain says there is “no excuse” for Detroit’s
automakers to set up electric vehicle operations
and ventures that are not unionized.
July 10 The UAW says it will open contract talks with
Detroit’s Big Three automakers – Chrysler-parent
Stellantis, Ford Motor and General Motors – on
agreements covering about 150,000 U.S. workers.
Aug. 01 Fain says the union is seeking ambitious benefit
increases in contract talks with the Detroit
Three automakers.
Aug. 25 UAW members vote overwhelmingly in favor of
authorizing a strike at the Detroit Three
automakers if an agreement is not reached before
the then-current four-year contract expires on
Sept. 14.
Sep. 13 The UAW rejects counteroffers from the
automakers and outlines plans for strikes
targeting individual U.S. auto plants in what
would be its first-ever simultaneous strike
against the Detroit Three.
Sept. 15 The union
launches
simultaneous strikes aimed at
halting production at three factories owned by
GM, Ford and Stellantis.
Oct. 30 The union reaches a deal with GM, after reaching
agreements with Stellantis and Ford, ending the
strike against Detroit automakers.
Nov. 1 Toyota Motor hikes wages of nonunion U.S.
factory workers
Nov. 2 The UAW signals the next step in the union’s
campaign: launching organizing drives at Toyota,
Tesla and other nonunion U.S. auto factories.
Nov. 8 Fain says the union will “pull out all stops” in
working to organize non-union U.S. auto plants.
Nov. 9 President Joe Biden backs UAW’s efforts to
unionize Tesla and Toyota workers.
Nov. 10 Honda Motor says it will give production workers
at its U.S. facilities an 11% pay hike starting
in January.
Nov. 13 Hyundai Motor says it will hike wages for
nonunion production workers at its Alabama
factory by 25% by 2028.
Nov. 16 Japanese automaker Subaru says it will raise the
wages of its U.S. workers at Subaru’s assembly
plant in Lafayette, Indiana.
Nov. 20 The UAW says 64% of workers at the Detroit Three
automakers voted to ratify new record contracts
after a six-week targeted strike, as the union
turns its attention to organizing foreign-owned
and Tesla auto plants.
Nov. 20 Nissan Motor says it will hike top wages for
workers at U.S. manufacturing plants by 10% in
January.
Nov. 22 Volkswagen says it will hike salaries for
production workers at its Tennessee-based
Chattanooga assembly plant by 11%.
Nov. 29 The UAW says it was launching a
first-of-its-kind push to publicly organize the
entire nonunion auto sector in the U.S. UAW says
workers at 13 nonunion automakers were
announcing simultaneous campaigns across the
country to join the union.
Dec. 07 The UAW says more than 1,000 factory workers at
Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly
plant, which employs about 3,800 workers, have
signed union authorization cards.
Dec. 11 The UAW says it filed unfair labor practice
charges against Honda Motor, Hyundai Motor and
Volkswagen, citing aggressive anti-union
campaigns to deter workers from organizing.
2024
Jan. 04 A group of 33 U.S. senators urges Tesla and 12
other automakers to remain neutral in ongoing
efforts by the UAW to organize U.S. auto plants.
Jan. 11 Tesla tells production workers in the United
States that they will get a pay hike, Bloomberg
News reported.
Feb. 01 The UAW says more than 30% of workers at Hyundai
Motor’s Alabama plant have signed cards seeking
to join the union.
Feb. 06 The UAW says a majority of workers at
Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly
plant have signed cards to join the union
Feb. 21 The union says it will commit $40 million to
organizing non-union automobile and EV battery
workers in the United States over the next two
years.
Feb. 27 The union says a majority of hourly workers at a
Mercedes Benz Alabama factory have signed cards
to join the union.
March 06 The union said more than 30% of workers at a
Toyota Motor Missouri factory are seeking to
join the union.
March 18 The union says a supermajority of eligible
workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee
assembly plant have signed union cards.
March 25 Workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee,
assembly plant will vote in April on whether to
join the United Auto Workers union.
April 05 Workers at a Mercedes Benz factory in Vance,
Alabama, file a petition with U.S. regulators to
hold an election to join the United Auto
Workers, the union said.
April 17 Voting at Volkswagen Tennessee plant to begin.
(Compiled by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
Comments