By Nora Eckert and David Shepardson
The United Auto Workers announced on Wednesday that a battery manufacturing joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution has agreed to recognize the union at a Tennessee plant.
The UAW revealed that a majority of workers at the Ultium Cells facility have signed cards to join the union, with the company agreeing to recognize their union. This decision comes after workers at an Ohio Ultium plant voted to join the union in 2022 and secured a new contract earlier this year with significant wage increases.
The Tennessee factory, which employs 1,000 workers, produces batteries for GM's electric vehicles, including the Cadillac Lyriq.
A GM spokesman stated, "The team at Ultium Cells in Tennessee has indicated their desire to be represented by the UAW. The parties will now move into the local bargaining process."
LG representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GM's battery operations were a point of contention in last year's UAW contract negotiations, leading to strikes at plants across major automakers. The automaker eventually agreed to allow its Ultium battery plants to fall under the union's master agreement once a majority of workers choose to unionize.
UAW President Shawn Fain is spearheading a $40 million nationwide organizing effort, targeting large automakers like Toyota and Tesla.
The union recently celebrated a victory at Volkswagen when 73% of voting workers at a Tennessee plant opted to join the UAW, marking the first auto plant in the South to unionize via an election since the 1940s.
While the executive board of the union has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential bid, experts believe that having political support may not be the deciding factor in the success of the union's organizing efforts.
Overall, the recognition of the UAW at the GM and LG Energy Solution's battery plant in Tennessee marks a significant development in the auto industry's labor landscape. It showcases the power of collective bargaining and unionization in ensuring fair wages and working conditions for employees in the sector. This move could potentially influence other automakers and plants to consider similar agreements with labor unions, ultimately benefiting workers across the industry.
