The press announcement below was released by the United Auto Workers (UAW) on September 4, 2024. It reports a union organizing victory by Ultium car battery manufacturing workers in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

After a majority of the plant’s 1,000 employees signed cards authorizing the UAW to represent them, Ultium — a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution, making batteries for GM’s electric vehicles — did not challenge the result and recognized the union on September 3 without a representation election.

“The Ultium workers’ victory marks the latest big win for autoworkers in the South,” the UAW press release points out. “In April, 4,300 workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., made history as they became the first Southern autoworkers outside of the Big Three to win their union.”

The accomplishments at Ultium and Volkswagen are the result of a nationwide organizing campaign the UAW launched last year on the heels of a historic victory in its national strike against the Big Three auto manufacturers.

The UAW organizing drive has also faced setbacks. In May, workers at the Mercedes auto assembly plant in Vance, Alabama, and an adjacent battery facility, lost a vote for unionizing the plants.

The UAW leadership, however, has made it clear that the union remains committed to this effort, with whatever ups and downs may lie ahead.

“This is a David and Goliath fight,” UAW president Shawn Fain told Mercedes workers after the setback in Vance. “Sometimes Goliath wins a battle. But David wins the war.”

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— World-Outlook editors

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Ultium Workers in Tennessee Win Their Union as Majority Sign Cards to Join the UAW

SPRING HILL, Tenn. — A majority of workers at Ultium Cells in Tennessee have signed cards to join the UAW and the company has agreed to recognize their union. Ultium, a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution, did not interfere with the decision by its 1,000 employees to join the UAW. The workers organized without facing threats or intimidation and won their union once a majority of workers signed cards.

“This is a great day for Ultium workers and for every worker in Tennessee and the South,” said Trudy Lindahl, a worker at Ultium in Spring Hill. “Southern workers are ready to stand up and win our fair share by winning our unions. And when we have a free and fair choice, we will win every time.”

The Ultium workers’ victory marks the latest big win for autoworkers in the South. In April, 4,300 workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., made history as they became the first Southern autoworkers outside of the Big Three to win their union. 

“The UAW members at Ultium and VW are proving that the new jobs of the South will be union jobs,” said Director Tim Smith of UAW Region 8, which includes Tennessee and ranges from the Southeast to New Mexico. “In the battery plants and EV factories springing up from Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, workers know they deserve the same strong pay and benefits our members have won. And we’re going to make sure they have the support they need to win their unions and win their fair share.”

The Ultium plant in Spring Hill, which started production this year, is the second Ultium factory built in the United States and the second to go union. The first, in Lordstown, Ohio, opened in 2022, and workers there also organized with the UAW.

“Being unionized will help us reap the benefits as far as better healthcare, better pay, and overall, just having decency within the workplace — not just for us, but future generations,” said Tradistine Chambers, a worker at Ultium in Spring Hill.

Noting the strength that comes from forming a union, Ultium worker Jim Erwin commented, “You’re grouped together, and you can stand up as one. That’s the power of being a union.” He added, “Instead of just one stick, you’ve got several. You can’t snap several sticks, but you can snap one.”

Just two months ago, the Ultium workers in Lordstown won a breakthrough contract that sets a new standard for the EV industry. It includes strong health and safety standards and life-changing wage increases. By 2027, the pay for Ultium Lordstown workers will be more than double what it was when the plant opened.

The Ultium contract in Lordstown sets a powerful precedent for Spring Hill and for the tens of thousands of new battery jobs that will be coming online soon across the South, including at Ford’s Blue Oval plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

September 4, 2024

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