On Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 01:45 PM, Michael Meeropol wrote: > > I think this is very good news -- a small step but definitely in the RIGHT > DIRECTION ... > > ---------- Forwarded message --------- > From: *Portside Labor* < [email protected] > > Date: Sun, Sep 8, 2024 at 11:39 PM > Subject: A Thousand Tennessee Autoworkers Just Joined the UAW > To: < [email protected] > > > > > > ( https://portside.org/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email ) > > > > -------------- > Portside Labor > -------------- > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Thousand Tennessee Autoworkers Just Joined the UAW ( > https://portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > Alex N. Press > September 6, 2024 > Jacobin ( https://jacobin.com/2024/09/ultium-ev-autoworkers-uaw-tennessee ) > > > > > * ( > https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?url=https%3A//portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw&text=A%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW > ) > * ( > https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A//portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw > ) > * ( > ?body=%0AA%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW%0Ahttps%3A//portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw&subject=A%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW&utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * ( > https://portside.org/node/34998/printable/print?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > > > > Workers at Ultium’s Spring Hill electric vehicle plant, a joint venture > between General Motors and LG Energy Solution of Korea, have unionized. > It’s the latest case of the UAW’s Big Three strike bearing fruit. > > The UAW victory at the Ultium Cells LLC plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, > is a product of the pathway to unionization won by the union during its > historic strike against the Big Three automakers last fall. , (Emily > Elconin / Bloomberg via Getty Images) > > > > > > > This week, in Spring Hill, Tennessee, just south of Nashville, roughly one > thousand workers at Ultium Cells LLC, an electric vehicle (EV) plant > jointly run by General Motors and LG Energy Solution of Korea, joined ( > https://uaw.org/ultium-workers-in-tennessee-win-their-union-as-majority-sign-cards-to-join-the-uaw/ > ) the United Auto Workers (UAW) after a majority of the venture’s employees > signed union-authorization cards. The advance is a product of the pathway > to unionization won by the UAW during its historic ( > https://jacobin.com/2023/10/uaw-big-three-strike-end-ta-contract ) strike > against the Big Three automakers — GM, Ford, and Stellantis — last fall. > > > > Autoworkers wanted to win an advance for their comrades in the largely ( > https://jacobin.com/2023/09/electric-vehicle-nonunion-united-auto-workers-strike-wages > ) nonunion EV sector. The union was legally constrained in its ability to > bargain over the issue, given that it did not yet represent these workers. > But with an eye to the speed at which the EV sector is expanding — tens of > thousands of new battery jobs are slated to come online in the South in > the near future, including at Ford’s Blue Oval plants in Tennessee and > Kentucky — the UAW wrested an agreement ( > https://apnews.com/article/auto-workers-strike-ford-agreement-2e3b61035a1180fdf69b23be8d602d6c > ) from the Detroit automakers. > > > > The pathway to unionization won in that fight allows EV workers to > organize via what’s known as “card check,” rather than having to file for > anNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election, with all the > opportunities for union busting that accompanies that latter process. In > his presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to pass the Employee Free > Choice Act (EFCA), a federal law that would grant workers across the > country the ability to unionize via card check. He reneged on that > agreement, though calls ( > https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/opinion/starbucks-union-government.html > ) for EFCA’s passage are now emerging in light of the obstacles facing > current unionization drives at the likes of Starbucks. Without such a law, > the process must be won through workers’ struggle, as the striking UAW > members won it for Big Three EV workers. > > > > Ultium’s Spring Hill workers are the first to make use of the newly won > pathway. According to the union, Ultium did not interfere with their > decision to join the UAW, and they organized without facing threats or > intimidation, with Ultium agreeing to recognize the union once a majority > of workers had signed cards. (This despite the fact that Tennessee is one ( > https://www.alreporter.com/2024/05/09/bill-penalizing-voluntary-recognition-of-unions-is-headed-to-governors-desk/ > ) of several ( > https://jacobin.com/2024/03/georgia-brian-kemp-sb362-unionization ) Southern > states considering legislation that would economically penalize employers > who recognize workers via card check.) In a statement, Ultium said that > union recognition “will support the continuity of operations, drive > innovation, and enhance world-class manufacturing.” > > > > The Ultium unionization marks the second recent win for Tennessee’s > autoworkers. In April of this year, some 4,300 workers at Volkswagen in > Chattanooga — the site of several ( > https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/06/14/volkswagen-vw-uaw-union-vote-chattanooga-result/1409136001/ > ) prior unsuccessful UAW campaigns — became the first ( > https://jacobin.com/2024/04/chattanooga-vw-uaw-unionization ) Southern > autoworkers outside of the Big Three to win a union. It was the first > victory in the union’s ambitious plan ( > https://jacobin.com/2023/12/uaw-big-three-strike-nonunion-organizing-gaza-cease-fire > ) to organize some 150,000 non-union autoworkers across the country, on > which it is spending $40 million. The month following the win in > Chattanooga, the union lost ( > https://jacobin.com/2024/05/uaw-alabama-mercedes-union-loss ) an NLRB vote > by Mercedes-Benz workers ( > https://jacobin.com/2024/03/uaw-organizing-mercedes-benz-alabama ) in > Vance, Alabama, where a union-busting campaign ( > https://jacobin.com/2024/05/mercedes-uaw-alabama-defeat-union-busting ) led > to unfair labor practice charges in the United States as well as an > investigation in Germany. > > > > The Spring Hill plant started producing battery cells this year, and it’s > the second Ultium factory built in the United States. The first, in > Lordstown, Ohio, began production in 2022, and those workers voted to join > the UAW shortly afterward. Two months ago, they overwhelmingly ratified ( > https://www.wfmj.com/story/50909415/lordstown-ultium-cells-workers-overwhelmingly-approve-4year-contract-at-facility > ) a four-year contract that the union hopes will set the standard for the > EV sector. That agreement includes significant wage increases, a 10 > percent premium for night-shift workers, overtime incentives, and back pay > for 401(k) contributions, among other provisions. By 2027, the pay for > Ultium Lordstown workers will be more than double what it was when the > plant opened. > > > > According to the UAW’s national contract, starting pay at Ultium’s Spring > Hill plant, which was $20 per hour, will rise to a minimum of $27.72, with > minimum production-worker pay rising to $30.88 over three years. That > amounts to a roughly ( > https://fortune.com/2024/09/04/gm-battery-plant-pay-union-uaw-raise/ ) 35 > percent raise. > > > > “You’re grouped together, and you can stand up as one,” Ultium worker Jim > Erwin said ( > https://uaw.org/ultium-workers-in-tennessee-win-their-union-as-majority-sign-cards-to-join-the-uaw/ > ) of the decision to organize. “Instead of just one stick, you’ve got > several. You can’t snap several sticks, but you can snap one.” > > > > SHARE THIS ARTICLE > > > > Facebook Twitter Email ( > ?subject=A%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW&body=https://jacobin.com/2024/09/ultium-ev-autoworkers-uaw-tennessee&utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > > > > CONTRIBUTORS > > > > Alex N. Press is a staff writer at Jacobin who covers labor organizing. > > > > * SUBSCRIBE ( https://jacobin.com/subscribe ) > * DONATE ( https://jacobin.com/donate ) > > > > > “Town & Country,” our focusing on rural politics, is out now. Subscribe to > our print edition today. ( > https://jacobin.com/subscribe/?code=TOWNANDCOUNTRY ) > > > > * UAW ( https://portside.org/uaw?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * Electric vehicles ( > https://portside.org/electric-vehicles?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * battery plants ( > https://portside.org/battery-plants?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * General Motors ( > https://portside.org/general-motors?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * union organizing ( > https://portside.org/union-organizing?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * strike ( > https://portside.org/strike?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email ) > > > > > > > * ( > https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?url=https%3A//portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw&text=A%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW > ) > * ( > https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A//portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw > ) > * ( > ?body=%0AA%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW%0Ahttps%3A//portside.org/2024-09-08/thousand-tennessee-autoworkers-just-joined-uaw&subject=A%20Thousand%20Tennessee%20Autoworkers%20Just%20Joined%20the%20UAW&utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > * ( > https://portside.org/node/34998/printable/print?utm_source=portside-labor&utm_medium=email > ) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Interpret the world and change it > --------------------------------- > > > > > > Submit via web ( > https://portside.org/contact/submit_to_portside?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email > ) > Submit via email ( [email protected] ) > Frequently asked questions ( > https://portside.org/faq?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email ) > Manage subscription ( > https://portside.org/subscribe?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email ) > Visit portside.org ( > https://portside.org/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email ) > Twitter ( https://twitter.com/portsideorg ) > Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/Portside.PortsideLabor ) > > > > > > > > > > Privacy Policy ( https://portside.org/privacy-policy ) > > > > To unsubscribe, click here ( > http://lists.portside.org/cgi-bin/listserv/wa?TICKET=NzM5MTY3IG1hbWVlcm9wQEdNQUlMLkNPTSBQT1JUU0lERUxBQk9SII5acg%2FvWBgT&c=SIGNOFF > ). > > > > > > >
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