Tag Archive for: Ultium Cells

GLENDALE, Ky. — A supermajority of workers at battery maker BlueOval SK filed a petition Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to form their union with the UAW. The election filing at BlueOval SK (BOSK), a new joint venture of Ford and SK On, is the first major filing in the South in 2025 and continues the movement of Southern autoworkers organizing with the UAW.

In a new video, BOSK workers talk about why they’re voting yes to form their union. The video can be accessed here and the media is invited to use the footage. More information about the campaign, including first-person statements from BOSK workers, is at: uaw.org/bosk.

“We’re forming our union so we can have a say in our safety and our working conditions,” said Halee Hadfield, a quality operator at BOSK. “The chemicals we’re working with can be extremely dangerous. If something goes wrong, a massive explosion can occur. With our union, we can speak up if we see there’s a problem and make sure we’re keeping ourselves and the whole community safe.”

The BOSK workers publicly launched their campaign to join the UAW in November once a supermajority of workers had signed union cards. The company has responded to the campaign by hiring anti-union consultants who are trying to block the workers from organizing.

“What we’re doing here can be transformative, but there are problems with management that we have to fix,” said Angela Conto, a production operator in formation at BOSK. “Instead of listening to our safety concerns, management has been ordering people to work without proper protective equipment. Now they’re trying to stop us from forming our union to win a strong voice for safety. But the strong supermajority of workers who’ve signed union cards show we’re going to fix what’s wrong at BOSK and make it the leading manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries in America.”

In December, the BOSK workers held a town hall in Elizabethtown, Ky., with UAW members from Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio, which makes battery cells for GM’s electric vehicle fleet. Ultium opened as a nonunion plant in 2022, and workers there encountered many of the same problems the BOSK workers face now. An Ultium worker explained how they organized with the UAW and won a union contract with strong safety protections and life-changing raises and benefits.

“I have worked both union and nonunion jobs and have seen the power of a union firsthand,” said Andrew McLean, a logistics worker in formation at BOSK. “Right now, we don’t have a say at BOSK. With a union, we’ll be on a level playing field with management. That’s so important when you’re getting a new plant off the ground. The union allows us to give honest feedback without fear of retaliation.”

The BOSK workers are building on the victories at Ultium in Lordstown, and also at the new Ultium plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., where workers joined the UAW in September. The growing unionization 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.

The new Fall 2024 issue of Solidarity Magazine is now available. 

You can download it here, and share it with fellow UAW members.

In this issue:

  • VOLKSWAGEN WORKERS MAKE HISTORY: The recent union election victory at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, TN, marks a monumental achievement after years of persistent organizing.
  • MERCEDES WORKERS: After workers at Volkswagen won their union, workers at Mercedes were organizing to do the same. Workers courageously stepped up to fight for the voice they knew they deserved.
  • STAND UP BMW: In July, a small but mighty group of BMW workers at the distribution center in Palmer Township, Pennsylvania, pushed back on one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world — and won!
  • DAIMLER TRUCK: After mounting a massive campaign and building a serious strike threat against Daimler Truck this spring, UAW members at the multibillion-dollar manufacturer won a historic agreement by uniting across local unions — a first — and shifting to one common wage grid.
  • 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: In 2024, we’re taking our Stand Up playbook and bringing it to the political scene because the same bosses who beat us up on the job and fight us at the negotiating table are hell-bent on owning our political system as well.
  • And more!

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.

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – UAW Local 1112 members voted overwhelmingly to ratify their historic contract at Ultium Cells, which builds battery cells for GM electric vehicles. The local contract, approved by 98% over the weekend, sets a new standard for the EV industry with strong wages and benefits and historic health and safety protections.  

The Ultium workers speak about the contract victory in a new video launched today by the UAW. The video can be accessed here, and the media is invited to use the footage.  

“It enables me to just go ahead and move forward in life rather than living from paycheck to paycheck,” said Ultium worker Donald Bevly. 

“This is setting a precedent that can be built on,” said Ultium worker Chris Wyatt. “This is a guideline that every other EV plant can follow through with.”  

When Ultium opened in 2021, the workers were nonunion, they made just $16.50 an hour, and the EV industry was in a race to the bottom. But the Ultium workers organized with the UAW in late 2022 and during the Stand Up Strike, they were brought under the GM national agreement.  

By October 2027, Ultium production workers will make $35 an hour, 112% more than before they joined the UAW. The contract includes:  

  • 30% raise over three years for production workers
  • Immediate $3,000 bonus
  • Four full-time union health and safety representatives in the plant as well as a full-time union industrial hygienist on site 

“The benefits are just the best benefits I’ve had in my life,” said Ultium worker Lori Lovitz. “Paid hospitalization, holiday pay. I’ve never had this many paid holidays. Job security.”  

Another Ultium plant is beginning operations in Spring Hill, Tenn., and battery plants that will employ tens of thousands of workers are being built across the country. The Ultium contract sets a powerful precedent for those facilities and the entire EV industry.   

For more details about the agreement, visit uaw.org/ultium

UAW Local 1112 has reached a historic tentative agreement at Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio, where workers build electric vehicle batteries for GM vehicles. The agreement marks a historic breakthrough for electric vehicle workers and a path forward that ends the race to the bottom pursued by corporate America throughout the EV transition.

The local agreement builds on the successes of the national contract that Ultium workers joined as a major win of the Stand Up Strike.

“Eighteen months ago, this company was on a low road path to poverty wages, unsafe conditions, and a dark future for battery workers in America,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Ultium workers said, ‘Hell no,’ got organized, and fought back. Now they’ve more than doubled their wages by the end of this contract, won record health and safety language, and showed the world what it means to win a just transition.”

“We were told at the beginning of bargaining that Ultium workers would never be allowed to join the UAW’s national agreement at GM,” said UAW Vice President Mike Booth. “Not only did we prove them wrong, but we did them one better, winning a major local agreement that sets the standard for the EV battery industry.”

“Five years ago, when they closed Lordstown Assembly, it was a major gut punch – I know, I lived it,” said UAW Region 2B Director David Green. “They wrote Lordstown off for dead. They thought we’d settle for low wages and unsafe jobs. They thought wrong, and now Ultium workers are leading the way.”

“Organizing to win our union took relentless persistence on behalf of hundreds of my coworkers at Ultium. Negotiating this contract was no different,” said UAW Local 1112 Shop Chairman Josh Ayers. “We want this agreement to become a cornerstone for current and future battery plants across the nation. First we planned. Then we took action. And now we have a tentative agreement to be proud of.”

Now, the 1,600 UAW members at Ultium Cells will review the details of the agreement and hold a ratification vote in the coming days. If ratified, the agreement will set a new standard for electric vehicle battery workers everywhere and mark a major milestone in the just transition to EVs.

For more on the fight for justice at Ultium, visit UAW.org/Ultium.

UAW family,

This past month has been a very busy one for our union, and I’m excited to share what we’ve been working on. This week, I spoke directly to the membership about our progress, and our major fights ahead. If you missed it, check it out here.

The Electric Vehicle transition remains a core issue for our union. Right now, we have UAW members in Lordstown, Ohio, making batteries for a GM “joint venture” called Ultium, earning just $16.50 an hour. EVs aren’t just coming – they’re here. And we support a clean auto industry. But we need to make sure the EV transition is a “just transition.” That means it’s not a race to the bottom. That means not allowing these companies to circumvent our contracts to pay low-road wages like they’re doing at Ultium.

Outside of the Big Three, the UAW continues to fight and win:

Your elected leadership on the International Executive Board are united and hard at work implementing the changes we believe are needed to transform our union back into a fighting organization. But it’s going to take all of us to get back in the fight. Send this message along to a UAW member in your life and ask them to sign up for Member Updates at UAW.org, and follow UAW on social media. We’re just getting started.

In solidarity,

UAW President Shawn