Tag Archive for: organizing

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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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“The Time is Now”: Mercedes workers in Alabama to vote for union May 13-17

VANCE, Ala. –  5,000 Mercedes workers will have an opportunity to vote to form their union in less than a month.  The election will be held in-person at the Mercedes plant May 13 – 17 in Vance, Alabama. The vote will be administered by the National Labor Relations Board.  

“Workers at our plant are ready for this moment,” said Jeremy Kimbrell, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “We are ready to vote yes because we are ready to win our fair share. We are going to end the Alabama discount and replace it with what our state actually needs. Workers sticking together and sticking by our community.” 

“The time is now,” said Latesha Henry, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “It’s time to regain family work life balance and make history at Mercedes. I want this to be a job that generation after generation would be proud to have.” 

The vote at Mercedes will come just a few weeks after workers at Volkswagen vote on unionizing with UAW in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That vote is currently underway, and it is anticipated that ballots will be counted Friday evening after voting ends.  

Should workers at both plants vote to unionize, nearly 10,000 autoworkers across the South will have voted to join UAW in less than a month. 

In addition to Mercedes and Volkswagen, thousands more autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns at Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala. and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at more than two dozen other facilities are actively organizing.  

“We’re tired of Mercedes executives rolling things back,” said Billy Guyton, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “We’re going to roll our union forward.”  

For more information, visit uaw.org/join

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Mercedes-Benz Workers in Alabama File for Union Election as Southern Autoworkers Stand Up to Join the UAW

VANCE, Ala. – A supermajority of Mercedes-Benz workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a vote to join the UAW. The over 5,000 workers at the Mercedes plant outside Tuscaloosa, Ala., are the second group of Southern autoworkers to call for a union election in less than three weeks. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., filed for their election in mid-March and will have their vote to join the UAW April 17–19.  

A new video announcing the election filing at Mercedes features the Alabama autoworkers at a recent rally with UAW President Shawn Fain. In the video, Mercedes workers speak out on why they’re voting yes to join the UAW. (The media is invited to use footage from the video.) 

In a statement today, Jeremy Kimbrell, a measurement machine operator at Mercedes, said, “We are standing up for every worker in Alabama. At Mercedes, at Hyundai and at hundreds of other companies, Alabama workers have made billions of dollars for executives and shareholders, but we haven’t gotten our fair share. We’re going to turn things around with this vote. We’re going to end the Alabama discount.” 

“We are voting for safer jobs at Mercedes,” said Moesha Chandler, an assembly team member at Mercedes. “I’m still young, but I’m already having serious problems with my shoulders and hands. When you’re still in your twenties and your body is breaking down, that’s not right. By winning our union, we’ll have the power to make the work safer and more sustainable.” 

Mercedes management is running an aggressive anti-union campaign, but that has not blunted the workers’ momentum. By late February, less than two months after Mercedes workers went public with their drive to join the UAW, a majority of them had signed union cards. The Mercedes workers hope to be voting in their union election by early May. The NLRB is expected to quickly set the date for the election.  

The UAW has filed federal labor charges against Mercedes for illegal union busting, as well as charges in a German court for labor violations that could net billions in penalties for the German automaker. 

“We’re going to make Mercedes better with this vote,” said Jacob Ryan, a KVP team member at Mercedes. “Right now, the company keeps losing good people because they force them to work Saturdays at the last second, to take shifts that mess with their family lives. And the only choice people have is to take it or quit. With the union, we’ll have a voice for fair schedules that keep workers at Mercedes.” 

The Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW 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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Volkswagen Workers in Chattanooga Will Vote in Their Union Election on April 17–19

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — More than 4,000 Volkswagen workers are set to vote in their union election on April 17, 18 and 19. The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled the election and will oversee the secret-ballot vote at the VW plant in Chattanooga.  

“We’re voting yes to win a better life for ourselves and our families,” said Isaac Meadows, an assembly worker at Volkswagen. “We need a say in our schedules, benefits, pay, and more. We’re proud to work at Volkswagen, but we also know the value of a voice at work.” 

The VW workers filed for the election last week after a supermajority of them signed union cards. The VW workers reached a majority on cards in early February, just two months after launching their public campaign to join the UAW.  

The April 17–19 election at Volkswagen marks the latest breakthrough in the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW. The movement was inspired by the record contracts UAW members won during last year’s Stand Up Strike against the Big Three auto companies.  

Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at VW, Mercedes in Vance, Ala., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at more than two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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The Path to Victory for Southern Autoworkers

Autoworkers at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama have been organizing to win their union. Today they met with UAW President Shawn Fain and Region 8 Director Tim Smith to talk about their path to victory. Here are remarks that President Fain shared with them:

Good afternoon, Union Family.

It’s my honor to be here, to be with so many badass, fed up autoworkers who are ready to stand up.

Today I’m here to talk about the path to victory. It’s a powerful idea. The path to victory. Because first things first — there is a path.

 
Before we can even talk about what we need to do to get what we deserve, we have to acknowledge one thing. Working class people, like all of you here today, have the power to change the world. You have the power to change your circumstances. You have the power to take back your time. To take back your life. To win real time off the job. A fair wage. Good healthcare you can afford. A better life for your family. For all of Alabama.

The first thing you need to do to win is to believe that you can win. That this job can be better. That your life can be better. And that those things are worth fighting for. That is why we stand up. That’s why you’re here today. Because deep down, you believe it’s possible.

There is a path. But here’s the other thing about the path to victory. It’s only a path. You have to walk it. Nobody can walk it for you. I didn’t come down here to tell you what all I’m going to do for you as the President of the UAW. That’s not what this is about. Everything you win in this fight will be because you won it.

You are in spitting distance of a life-changing victory. That’s because all of you are coming together with your coworkers to do the work of organizing your workplace. And the company knows it too. That’s why Mercedes is pulling out every trick in the book to instill fear, uncertainty, and division. To scare people off of standing up for a better life.

I’ve been meeting with UAW staff and with some of you. And what’s clear to me is we are doing things differently this time. This time, we are going to make sure we have leaders on each line, on each shift, talking to each other about building their union. That is the path to victory.

And it’s not just about the vote. True victory is not just winning a vote. We want to win big on the day of the election – but we also need to build that organizing muscle, that unity, and that determination to win big in a union contract. That’s what changes lives. That’s what this is all about.

But you have to walk that path to victory. You have to say – I’m ready to talk to my coworkers. I’m ready to have my name be public on a vote yes petition. I’m ready to go to work every day and proudly wear my UAW hat for everyone to see. I’m ready to stand up, strong and loud, and proud about this fight. I can’t win that for you. Our staff can’t win that for you. Only you can walk that path to victory.

Let me be clear, that doesn’t mean you’re walking alone. Our staff, our union, and hundreds of thousands of UAW members are behind you. Across this country, there are working-class people looking to you. For inspiration. For hope. And we’ve all got your back.

I opened these remarks with “union family,” because we are a family. But here in Alabama, it hits close to home. Many of you may not know this but my family’s roots are in the South. I have family from Alabama. And three of my grandparents were from Tennessee, one from Kentucky, and after the Great Depression, all of my grandparents had to move north. And they were blessed to hire in at GM and Chrysler in the early days of the UAW. They stood up for themselves and went and got a better life.

But the real meaning of union is not having to leave for greener pastures. Not having to leave your family and your life behind just to be able to live. The real meaning of union is fighting for a better life where you are. Because it’s your job. It’s your body. It’s your time. It’s your family. It’s your community.

I look around here and I see a lot of people who remind me of myself and my roots. I know struggle. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. I’ve been on unemployment. I’ve received government aid to get formula and diapers for my firstborn child.


Joining the union, the UAW, changed my life. It gave me a wage I could raise a family on. It gave me a job I could rely on. And it gave me hope for the future. So, I put everything I had into building this union. I walked that path. I know what it’s like to be out there at the gates, trying to get your coworkers organized. I know what it’s like to have to fight the company tooth and nail just to have a little dignity on the job. And I know if I didn’t do it, if regular autoworkers like me and you don’t stand up, nothing’s going to change. So, do it for yourself. Do it for your family. And we’ll have your back every step of the way.

You’re so close to the finish line. Some people get within inches of their goal and quit before they realize that if they’d have given one more push they would have reached it.

 
 My running for president of the UAW was very similar. If I hadn’t relied on faith and faced fear and doubt and took on the insurmountable odds of running for president of the UAW, nothing would have changed.

 
People said I was crazy for running for President. Some who were previously in power tried to make the members afraid to vote for change. But the members took a leap of faith and voted for new leaders and look what we are accomplishing.

Our Big Three contract campaign was the same. People said we were crazy for going for the things we did. Companies said they couldn’t afford it. Companies made threats. The media said we were crazy.

But guess what? We focused on facts in our Big 3 campaign and strike. The fact that the companies made a quarter of a trillion dollars in a decade. The fact that CEO pay went up 40% over the previous 4 years. And the fact that workers were being left behind, although the workers generate those massive profits through their labor. 75% of Americans sided with us in that fight. Using the power of facts and a unified membership.

We won a record contract and the companies still paid out massive stock dividends to investors. CEOs are still giving themselves massive raises, and business is fine.

It’s the same here in Alabama.

Facts: The German three made double what the Big Three made in the last decade. A half a trillion. $460 billion. Mercedes’s CEO got an 80% raise last year. The eight managers on the Mercedes management board got a collective $27 million raise last year. The average Mercedes executive makes $3,600 an hour. It would take a Mercedes production worker at the top rate two years to make what a Mercedes executive earns in one week.

The company, the Governor, and the Business Council are trying to make you afraid to stand up, because you are so close to realizing a life many thought wasn’t possible. Mercedes is using fear, uncertainty, and division because they are afraid.

Mercedes is afraid of you having a voice in your work life. Mercedes is afraid of sharing any control over your work lives. Mercedes is afraid of paying you the wages and benefits you deserve for the massive profits your work, your sacrifice, your blood, and your sweat create. You are an at-will employee, you have no rights, and management has all the control. It’s time to change that.

Years ago, my grandparents had to leave Tennessee to live the American Dream. You don’t have to leave. You can achieve it right here in Alabama.

The first thing I do when I get up every day, daily reading and pray. Recently, I thought of you when I read my daily reading, Hebrews 11:1, “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.”

The only people who can organize the South are the workers in the South. And those workers who stand up are forever going to go down in history for doing what so many people said was impossible. Why not you? Why not here?

I said during our campaign at the Big Three that this is our generation’s defining moment. That faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, and we moved mountains.

Now, here in Alabama, we have another mountain to move. This is your defining moment to change your lives. To change America. And to change the world for the better. So, let’s walk down that path to victory together in Solidarity and let’s finish the job.

So, I came here not to win this thing for you. Not to tell you what to do. I came here to find out for myself the answer to one question. Are you ready to Stand Up? I believe you are, and I believe in you.

If you’re ready, the time is now. This is your defining moment. If we have public supporters in every department, on every line, on every shift, Mercedes workers will be guaranteed to win your election. Raise your hand if you can commit to being that person for your line.

Before you leave today, put your name on the public petition and join your coworkers on the path to victory. We will not let the company divide us. That’s how they win. Solidarity is our strength. That’s how we win.

This isn’t about power, It’s about control. Without a Union contract, they have all the control. You have the power. You just have to recognize it and use it. Let’s finish the job that started so long ago. Let’s walk a new path for working-class people together in solidarity.

Thank you.


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