What happened
A Volkswagen auto plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the United Auto Workers union, giving the UAW its first modern toehold in the "right to work" South and its first successful unionization at a foreign-owned automaker in the region. The lopsided 2,628-985 vote followed narrow UAW losses at the factory in 2014 and 2019.
Who said what
Many "pundits have said to me, repeatedly," that the UAW "can't win in the South," UAW President Shawn Fain told the Chattanooga workers Friday. "You all moved a mountain."
The commentary
Unionizing in the South has long been "like cutting a five-acre field with nail clippers: time-consuming, grueling and largely ineffective," Abby Vesoulis said at Mother Jones. Six Southern Republican governors warned last week that unionizing will scare away automakers, but that's unlikely, consultant Fabian Brandt told The Wall Street Journal. "Union membership is the price German manufacturers will have to pay for building cars where they sell."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
After the election is certified, the UAW and VW will start negotiating pay, work hours and worker safety. The UAW's next big unionization vote is at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Vance, Alabama, in mid-May.
-
What India’s World Cup win means for women’s cricketIn The Spotlight The landmark victory could change women’s cricket ‘as we know it’
-
Can Nigel Farage and Reform balance the books?Today's Big Question Nigel Farage has, for the first time, ‘articulated something resembling a fiscal rule’ that he hopes will win over voters and the markets
-
The best quality chocolateThe Week Recommends The milk and dark chocolate bars that win on depth and flavour
-
Labor: Federal unions struggle to survive TrumpFeature Trump moves to strip union rights from federal workers
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Volkswagen on the ropes: a crisis of its own makingTalking Point The EV revolution has 'left VW in the proverbial dust'
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
-
TD Bank accepts $3B fine over money launderingSpeed Read The US retail bank pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges
