Auto Workers Union Urges Workers At Tesla, BMW And Toyota To Unionize

Topline

The United Auto Workers union is launching an organizing campaign at more than a dozen automakers in an effort to urge thousands of auto workers to unionize following the UAW’s recent success earning new contracts for union employees at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors.

Earlier this month, union workers at Ford, Stellantis and General Motors approved new contracts … [+] negotiated by the UAW that included raises and improved benefits. AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

AP/Paul Sancya

Key Facts

The UAW organizing campaign is under way at automakers including Toyota, Tesla, Nissan, BMW and Volkswagen, the union announced Wednesday.

UAW said thousands of non-union auto workers are signing union cards at a new UAW webpage in effort to organize—though it did not specify how many people have signed cards since it began its efforts.

Some 150,000 auto workers are employed at at least 13 auto makers where the UAW is organizing, the union said.

In a video posted on the UAW website, President Shawn Fain told auto workers who are “working without the benefits of a union,” that it’s their “turn” now and that “a better life is out there.”

Surprising Fact

A Toyota assembly complex in Georgetown, Kentucky, is one of the “strongest” campaigns so far, the union said. Fain also said that union interest from nonunion workers has been particularly strong from those in the south.

Key Background

The momentum at auto makers is the result of a successful push and contract ratification at each of the Big Three earlier this month. At the beginning of November, workers at Stellantis, GM and Ford ratified a new contract following a six week strike. The contract included a 25% wage increase over the term of the contract and reinstatement of cost-of-living-allowances, commonly referred to as COLA, for union workers at all three car makers. The historic 50-day strike also resulted in workers at all three automakers earning the right to strike over any plant closure while workers are under this contract, which can protect workers in the event manufacturers shut down plants to shift their focus to electric vehicles. That part of the contract helps to assuage some concerns union workers had about the rise of battery-powered vehicles and how that might change the need for labor. The union’s deal with GM includes enhanced company contributions to those with pensions and current retirees, and the deal with Ford improves retirees’ benefits, according to UAW. Meanwhile, Stellantis’ deal features those same agreements and includes the right to strike over product and investment commitments, the UAW said.