Tag Archive for: Tim Smith

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UAW President Shawn Fain and Hundreds of Workers Kick Off Volkswagen Contract Talks Sunday with Live Streamed Rally

CHATTANOOGA — On Sunday, Sept. 15, UAW President Shawn Fain will rally in Chattanooga with Volkswagen workers as contract negotiations covering more than 4,000 UAW members get underway. The workers are demanding a first agreement that raises standards and includes wages, benefits, and protections on par with those secured by autoworkers in unionized plants.

Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. ET rally will be livestreamed at the UAW’s Facebook page. It can also be viewed at the UAW’s YouTube Channel. (Media are invited to use the footage.)

WHAT:
UAW President Shawn Fain to Rally with Hundreds of Volkswagen Workers as Contract Talks Begin

WHEN:  
Sunday, September 15, at 1:30 p.m. ET

WHERE:
The Signal – Ballroom
21 Choo Choo Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37402

WHO:
UAW President Shawn Fain
UAW Vice President Chuck Browning
UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith
Volkswagen auto workers and allies

 

After an historic victory earlier this year, where Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted almost 3-to-1 to join the United Auto Workers (UAW), union members are now turning their attention to securing a strong first contract. On September 19, workers will begin negotiations with Volkswagen, aiming to win higher wages, better benefits, paid time off, retirement security, and much more.

The vote marked a watershed moment in the labor movement, with Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga becoming the first Southern autoworkers outside the Big Three to unionize. Now, they are channeling that momentum toward bargaining for a contract that delivers meaningful improvements to their work and lives.

Bargaining with Volkswagen management begins on Thursday, September 19.

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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.

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UAW Workers Walk Out at Penske Logistics in El Paso after Company’s Refusal to Bargain in Good Faith

Members of Local 286 who work at Penske Logistics walked off the job in an unfair labor practice strike following the company’s refusal to negotiate a first contract in good faith. 

More than 40 workers in the clerical unit of the El Paso, TX, facility voted to form their union over a year ago and have been stonewalled by the company in their attempt to win a first contract. Members are seeking fair pay, real paid time off, and better benefits, particularly health care.

“I am on strike because clerical workers at Penske deserve a fair contract, and to be able to care for our families,” said Juan Amparan, a Penske worker. “Health insurance is so expensive that my family hasn’t been able to afford to go to the doctor. This company treats us like we are machines and tools, but we are people.”

With a high premium and $6,000 a year deductible, the current option is so unaffordable that half of the workers don’t receive any health insurance. Most workers make around $18 an hour, while health care premiums cost around $180 per week. Workers are pushing to raise wages to at least $20 an hour and are striking to bring company negotiators back to the bargaining table in hopes of reaching an agreement.

“The company’s refusal to sit down with workers and hash out a deal with fair pay and benefits so workers can care for their families is unacceptable,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “It’s time for Penske to get serious and negotiate in good faith.”

Penske Logistics workers are the latest UAW members standing up to win their fair share of the massive profits they produce. Last year, thousands of UAW autoworkers walked out on strike for six weeks and won record contracts at the Big Three automakers.

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UAW Members Ratify Historic Contract at Daimler Truck

UAW members at Daimler Truck turned out in record numbers to ratify their new historic common contract by 94.5%. The four-year agreement delivers major economic gains for 7,300 workers who build Freightliner and Western Star trucks and Thomas Built Buses in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The deal includes raises of more than 25%, and the introduction of profit-sharing and Cost-of-Living (COLA) for the first time at Daimler. The agreement will end the tiered wage system at Daimler, ensuring that workers who make trucks and workers who make buses get equal pay for equal work by the end of the contract.

“Daimler Truck workers just showed the world that Southern workers have the power to Stand Up and win big in heavy truck and beyond,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Knowing that Daimler had made record profits year after year from their hard work, members used every tool – including the potent threat of a strike – to win. Daimler workers and UAW members are not only setting the standard but raising it. Workers are fed up and ready to fight for a better way of life, and the UAW is ready to go all-out in that fight.” 

“The membership at Daimler Truck was fired up and unified. That energy fueled the bargaining team’s push for a record contract – and they made great gains on the issues our members said were most important to them,” said Tim Smith, Region 8 Director. “Across Region 8, workers are standing up for justice and a better way of life. Whether they’re just forming their union, like the brave workers in Chattanooga and Tuscaloosa, or bargaining a new contract at Daimler, Southern workers continue to push for a voice and a fair deal in this economy.” 

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UAW President Shawn Fain and Hundreds of Workers Kicking Off Daimler Truck Contract Talks Tuesday with Livestreamed Rally

STATESVILLE, N.C. — On Tuesday, April 2, UAW President Shawn Fain will rally in North Carolina with Daimler Truck workers as contract negotiations covering 7,000 UAW members get underway. The workers are demanding an agreement that includes the long overdue fair wages and working conditions they deserve.

Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET rally will be livestreamed at the UAW’s Facebook page. It can also be viewed at the UAW’s YouTube Channel. (Media are invited to use the footage.)

Bargaining with Daimler Truck management begins on Tuesday morning and the workers’ contract expires on April 26. Fain and UAW members at Daimler are standing up and speaking out against the workers’ unfair pay and worsening working conditions.

The workers who build Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks, and Thomas Built Buses are facing declining real wages and job security even as Daimler Truck tallies record profits and makes massive payouts to shareholders. Over the past six years, Daimler’s profits have increased by 90% while workers’ buying power has fallen 13%.

Tuesday’s rally with Fain comes just weeks after 7,000 Daimler Truck North America workers voted by 96% to authorize a strike if necessary. This overwhelming support shows the workers are determined to secure the record contract they’ve earned.

On the heels of the UAW’s historic Stand Up Strike and record contracts with the Big Three automakers, and as tens of thousands of workers across the country continue organizing to join the UAW, Fain will stand with Daimler workers in their fight for fair pay, cost of living adjustments (COLA), job security and a better future for working families. 

WHAT:   
UAW President Shawn Fain to Rally with Hundreds of Daimler Truck Workers as Contract Talks Begin

WHEN:   
Tuesday, April 2, at 6 p.m. ET 
*Press should arrive by 5:45 p.m. ET

WHERE:  
UAW Local 3520
2290 Salisbury Hwy.
Statesville, NC 28677 

WHO:    
UAW President Shawn Fain 
UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith
UAW Local 3520 President Corey Hill 
UAW Local 5285 President Ricky McDowell 
North Carolina State AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan
Daimler Truck workers and Allies

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Researchers at National Institutes of Health Vote to Unionize by Nearly 98%

In a historic outcome, early-career researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, have voted by nearly 98% to form a union, NIH Fellows United-UAW. 1,601 workers voted in favor of unionizing, with only thirty-six voting against.

This is the first union within the U.S. federal government for research fellows, which includes postbaccalaureate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral researchers.

“We won our union!” NIH Fellows United-UAW announced on the social media platform X after the voting process was completed. “We are the largest union of federal employees to form in more than a decade, and the first union of Fellows ever at a federal research facility. We’ve made history together.”

In June of this year, workers filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to form their union. In July, the NIH questioned the legal standing of fellows unionizing, submitting paperwork to the FLRA stating many of the potential union members weren’t employees and thus, didn’t have the right to form a union. The following month, NIH dropped opposition, paving the way for the vote.

Improved pay and working conditions and enhanced protections against harassment and excessive workloads are the primary issues workers would like to see addressed in a first contract between their union and the NIH.

“I’d like to welcome the NIH unit to the UAW,” Region 8 Director Tim Smith said. “I am looking forward to meeting and shaking the hands of each and every one of these new members. We will stand hand-in-hand to achieve a contract that helps them build a better life. They may be the first union in Region 8 for government researchers, but working together, it won’t be the last.”

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