Tag Archive for: organizing

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Nurses at Ford Chicago Assembly Persevere, Vote to Join UAW

Local 551 is one of the most historic units in the UAW. The local’s roots go all the way back to the very beginning of the union in 1935, and over 5,000 of its members work at the iconic Ford Chicago Assembly plant, the automaker’s oldest operating manufacturing facility.

So, it would probably surprise many people to learn that the plant’s nursing staff has never been unionized. Yet, that was the case until April of this year, when the six nurses at Chicago Assembly withstood a vigorous anti-union campaign from the company and voted to join the UAW.

The organizing win is a testament to the determination of the nursing staff, who had attempted to unionize in two previous efforts that came up just short in recent years, and the unwavering support of Local 551, the UAW Ford Department, and Region 4.

“Every worker deserves to have a union,” UAW Vice President and Director of the Ford Department Laura Dickerson said about the union’s support of the nurses in their fight. “Every worker deserves to have the support they need to form their union if that’s what they choose to do. Our decision to get behind these six workers really came down to that belief.”

Mary Quasney, an associate nurse at the plant, said she felt they needed more say in how their workplace operated, citing concerns about chronic understaffing and the company’s lack of training opportunities as reasons for the organizing drive.

“We felt like management didn’t want to make any type of financial investment in us that would allow us to increase our skills and our knowledge,” Quasney said. “We felt like we were understaffed, and that can have negative effects on the work we do. We truly care about the workers in this plant, and we want to provide the best care possible for them when they come to us.”

Ford plant management was adamantly opposed to the nurses’ efforts from the get-go and ran an aggressive intimidation campaign to dissuade them from organizing. The company held multiple one-on-one meetings with nurses and distributed anti-union flyers filled with misleading information.

UAW representatives made sure to hold multiple meetings of their own with nurses to counter the company’s false messaging and were readily available 24/7 to answer any questions nurses may have about what joining the union would entail.

Throughout the organizing drive, Local 551 leaders and members working at the plant continuously showed their support for the nurses, stopping by the medical department to offer positive words of encouragement, recording a solidarity video, and delivering support cards with messages urging nurses to keep fighting.

“The support from the workers was amazing,” Quasney said. “They truly had our backs the entire time. I think it made us want to be a part of the union even more.”

On April 9, nurses voted 5-1 to join the UAW.

“I’ve been a member of this local for over 30 years, and during that entire time, the nurses here have never been unionized,” Local 551 President Chris Pena said. “So, to see them finally win a seat at the table, everyone at the local is incredibly proud of them for demanding a voice.”

“Some people might be asking, ‘Why so much effort for only six workers?’” Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell said. “But for us, it didn’t matter whether it was six workers or 600. Those nurses deserve the same support as anyone else. Our union was committed to making sure that was the case at Chicago Assembly.”

Now that the nurses are UAW, they will soon elect a bargaining chairperson and then begin negotiations with the company on a first-ever contract. For Quasney, finally having a voice on the job is just one of the many benefits of joining Local 551.

“We’re all just very excited to be joining the UAW,” Quasney said. “Local 551 does so much great work in the community and holds a number of events for its members every year, and now we get to be part of that. We’re very happy.”

RECAP: 2025 Organizing Conference

Working people face a serious uphill battle, but it’s one that can be overcome with strong, worker-led organizing campaigns. And over the last several years, a surge of successful organizing campaigns has shown what’s possible when workers invest in building strong organizing networks to take on these fights. At the 2025 UAW Organizing Conference, our aim was to build on that momentum!

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UAW Statement on Union Election at BlueOval SK

“Tonight, BlueOval SK workers won a majority of votes in an NLRB election to unionize their plant in Glendale, Kentucky, securing a hard-fought victory. This is a major step forward for workers who stood up against intense company opposition and chose to join the UAW.

“There are 41 challenge ballots still outstanding. We believe they are illegitimate and represent nothing more than an employer tactic to flood the unit and undermine the outcome. We will fight these challenges to defend the democratic choices of these workers, as we always do when corporations try to interfere with workers’ democratic choice. The challenged ballots are not part of the group of workers who built their union from the bottom up. They deserve to have their own union, in an appropriate bargaining unit with a representative of their own choosing.

“The UAW is calling on Ford to acknowledge the democratic decision of its workforce. They should immediately drop their anti-democratic effort to undermine the outcome of the election and recognize a majority of BlueOval SK’s production and maintenance employees have chosen to join the UAW and ensure battery jobs in Kentucky are good, safe, union jobs.”

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UAW Statement on International Motors (Navistar) Union Election

The following statement regarding tonight’s union election results can be attributed to the UAW:

“Once again, the statewide political and business elites have closed ranks to protect their power and privilege, stacking the deck against Alabama workers. The statewide business lobby and their allies in government poured tens of thousands of dollars into commercials, digital ads, and union-busting consultants who charge thousands of dollars per day to coerce workers and sow fear at International Motors Huntsville.

When workers at this facility started organizing their union, over 60% of workers signed cards saying they wanted to form a union with their coworkers. Navistar management then violated the neutrality agreement in its contract with other UAW-represented employees and unleashed its aggressive, illegal union busting campaign.

The workers put up a brave fight in the face of illegal intimidation tactics and coercion, but ultimately it was not enough to overcome a defunded, understaffed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and a system that overwhelmingly favors the employer at the expense of workers.

International Motors is a wholly owned subsidiary of Traton Group, a German company whose official policy is to remain neutral if workers decide they want to unionize. Instead of following its own policy, the company CEO descended on the plant for the first time in years to campaign against workers unionizing. Then, ten days before the vote, as momentum built for the union, management tried to buy back support by reinstating a health insurance plan they had taken away last year. Now that the election is over, nothing stops them from ripping it away again. That’s exactly why workers need a union: without a contract, there’s no guarantee—only empty promises.

While the workers and the UAW followed the neutrality policy and the letter of the law, International Motors and Alabama’s anti-worker corporate special interest groups stopped at nothing to prevent workers from using their power to improve their lives. The UAW will pursue every available avenue, including multiple Unfair Labor Practice charges and the full use of the grievance procedure, to win justice for these workers.”  

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Supermajority of Workers at EV Battery Maker BlueOval SK in Kentucky Have Signed Union Cards, Launch Public Campaign to Join UAW

GLENDALE, Ky. – A supermajority of workers at BlueOval SK (BOSK) in Kentucky have signed union authorization cards and today launched their public campaign to join the UAW. The campaign launch at BOSK, a joint venture of Ford and SK On, is the latest breakthrough for electric vehicle (EV) battery workers organizing with the UAW.

A new video announcing the campaign can be accessed here, and the media is invited to use the footage. (More information on the campaign is available at uaw.org/BOSK.)

In the video, narrated by BOSK workers, they explain that “battery workers are autoworkers” and deserve “the good, safe union jobs” that UAW members have won elsewhere in the auto industry.

The BOSK workers are building on the victories of UAW battery workers at Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tenn. Ultium is the joint venture that makes batteries for General Motors’ EV fleet.

In June, UAW members at Ultium in Lordstown, Ohio, won a contract with the same strong standards that UAW members have at all General Motors facilities. In September, workers at Ultium’s new plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., formed their union and are now preparing to negotiate their union contract.

Because BOSK is currently a nonunion facility, workers there have pay, benefit and safety standards much weaker than those of UAW members at Ford. Starting pay for a BOSK production worker is just $21 an hour. UAW production workers at Ford start at $26.32, and after three years will make over $42 an hour.

BOSK workers are joining together to ensure that they achieve UAW autoworkers standards. The movement led by BOSK and Ultium workers is setting strong standards for the rapidly expanding EV battery industry. A recent study found that manufacturers have announced nearly 90,000 current or future jobs in the EV battery industry linked to more than $100 billion in investments over the last nine years.

The growing movement among nonunion battery workers across the country, and especially in the South, builds off the success of the UAW’s Stand Up Strike at the Big Three and the victory by Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., who became the first Southern autoworkers outside the Big Three to win their union when they voted to join the UAW in April.

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New UAW Brings “Stand Up” Energy to Worksites and Targeted Battleground Communities in Mass Political Mobilization Campaign

On the one-year anniversary of the historic Stand Up Strike that led to record contracts for autoworkers at the Big Three, the UAW is kicking off its ambitious political campaign with the same bold organizing vision, mobilizing union members in key battleground states.

DETROIT—On the one-year anniversary of the Big Three Stand Up Strike, the United Auto Workers (UAW) is launching its bold 2024 political campaign to energize and activate tens of thousands of union members to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz and other UAW endorsed candidates in the upcoming election. 

On Saturday, September 14, thousands of UAW members will participate in a weekend of action in battleground states including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona. Drawing from the proven playbook that resulted in record contracts in 2023, the UAW’s “Stand Up, Speak Up, Show Up” campaign will organize a massive field program, leveraging the strength of UAW members to challenge the billionaire class at the polls. 

The campaign will focus on one-on-one conversations between UAW workers and their families—at their workplaces, on their doorsteps, and on their phones—to speak directly about what’s at stake for working-class people in this election. Core issues include fighting for union rights and working families, affordable healthcare, retirement security, and lowering costs for all Americans.  

Programs will mobilize UAW support for Harris and other union-endorsed candidates who are crucial to winning back the House and keeping the Senate, including Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and candidates in frontline House districts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York. 

“One year ago, we took on corporate America on the picket line and put working class issues front and center, with the vast majority of Americans standing with us in our fight for economic and social justice,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Today, we are taking that fight to the ballot box, speaking to our members, our families, and our communities to win once again big for the working class in this election.” 

A comprehensive list of UAW-endorsed candidates is available at UAWEndorsements.org. For more information, visit UAWStandUp2024.org. 

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American Folk Art Museum Workers To Vote On Unionization

New York, NY  – On Thursday, June 6, staff at the American Folk Art Museum will vote on whether to unionize with Local 2110 UAW. The wall-to-wall unit includes curators, retail staff, educators, IT, communication staff, and others. The Museum is the latest in a growing movement of museum workers to organize.

Staff members cite lack of transparency and a desire for fair wages, benefits, recognition, and sustainable working conditions as reasons for unionizing. 

“I love the Museum, its exhibitions and programs,” Jean Seestadt, Manager of Events, says, “but I want employment here to be sustainable over a longer period. We’ve seen too many great colleagues leave.” 

Eve Erickson, Executive Assistant, adds: “The staff are an important part of the Museum and by unionizing, we have a voice in our own conditions of work and our future at the Museum.”

The last few years have seen thousands of workers in cultural institutions decide to unionize. Employees at the Jewish Museum, The Dia Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Hispanic Society of America, Film Forum, Anthology Film Archives, MASS MoCA, Film at Lincoln Center, Studio in a School, the Portland Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston voted to unionize with Local 2110 since November 2020. Many reference similar issues of low pay, and lack of job security or opportunity.

The American Folk Art Museum, located at 2 Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side has existed for over fifty years. 

Local 2110 UAW also represents workers at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MASS MoCA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, Columbia University, Film Forum, Teachers College, ACLU, Center for Reproductive Rights, The New Press, and many more. The union has a reputation for its successful organizing and bargaining. 

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Joint Statement from UAW and Volkswagen on Certification of Election Results in Chattanooga

The National Labor Relations Board has certified the results of the election in which Volkswagen Chattanooga employees voted for representation by the United Auto Workers. Volkswagen and union workers around the world have a long history of successfully building vehicles together, and we are jointly committed to a strong and successful future at Volkswagen Chattanooga with the UAW. We share many common goals: providing a positive working environment where employees are well compensated for their hard work building quality vehicles and share in the company’s success. Both sides are now focused on collective bargaining and entering negotiations in the spirit of working together to reach a fair agreement and build world-class automobiles together. 

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“Living Large at Mercedes?”: New UAW Video Exposes Staggering CEO Pay at Mercedes Ahead of Alabama Plant Union Vote

In a new video, non-union autoworkers from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala., share the staggering  compensation that Mercedes executives enjoy while workers struggle with the “Alabama Discount.” Workers in the video contrast the 80% pay raise Mercedes CEO Dimitris Psillakis got last year against the meager increases given to workers.  

The video can be accessed at this link, and the media is invited to use the footage. The transcript of the video, which features three Mercedes workers, reads as follows:  

“Let’s talk about fairness at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama.  

“In the plush offices of Mercedes executives, something outrageous is happening. Last year, Mercedes CEO saw his pay increase by a staggering 80%. Not stopping there. The entire Mercedes management board chose to give themselves a 78% pay increase last year. That’s over $27 million in raises for only eight people.  

“It would take a production worker at top pay two years to earn what a Mercedes executive earns in just one week. But what about the hardworking Mercedes employees right here in Alabama? This year, Mercedes announced they were giving us a meager 6% pay increase. That’s what we call the Alabama Discount, and we’re going to bring it to an end. It’s time for change at Mercedes. It’s time for justice in Alabama. It’s time for Mercedes workers to Stand Up.” 

The video dropped on the heels of Friday evening’s historic tentative agreement at Daimler Truck, where 7,000 UAW members in the South won a contract with record raises, the end of tiers and, for the first-time ever for Daimler workers, profit-sharing and cost-of-living adjustments.  

The Daimler contract victory is another major win for the UAW following last fall’s record contracts at the Big Three automakers after their 44-day Stand-Up Strike. More than 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed UAW cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing.  

Last week, autoworkers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN, made history by overwhelmingly voting to join the UAW, the first auto plant in the South to unionize in decades.   

The 5,000 workers at Mercedes-Benz in Vance, Ala., will have their vote to join the UAW from May 13 to 17. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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In Historic Breakthrough, Volkswagen Workers Become First Southern Autoworkers to Win Their Union

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — In a historic victory, an overwhelming majority of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have voted to join the UAW. While votes continue to be tallied, the outcome is clear: Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are the first Southern autoworkers outside of the Big Three to win their union. 

Press can see the results of the election tonight at uaw.org/vwvote.

“This election is big,” said Kelcey Smith, a worker in the paint department at Volkswagen. “People in high places told us good things can’t happen here in Chattanooga. They told us this isn’t the time to stand up, this isn’t the place. But we did stand up and we won. This is the time; this is the place. Southern workers are ready to stand up and win a better life.”  

“We saw the big contract that UAW workers won at the Big Three and that got everybody talking,” said Zachary Costello, a trainer in VW’s proficiency room. “You see the pay, the benefits, the rights UAW members have on the job, and you see how that would change your life. That’s why we voted overwhelmingly for the union. Once people see the difference a union makes, there’s no way to stop them.”    

“This is a movement for every blue-collar worker in America,” said Doug Snyder, a body worker at Volkswagen. “Our vote shows that workers everywhere want a better life on and off the job. Fair pay is important, but so is time with our families. So is a voice for safety in our plant. We’re looking forward to getting to the bargaining table with the company and winning a contract that makes things right at Volkswagen.” 

5,000 workers at Mercedes-Benz in Vance, Ala., will have their vote to join the UAW on May 13 to 17. In the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies, over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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