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Tech Brew

Labor

Jordyn Grzelewski

techbrew.com

March has been a busy month for the automotive labor movement.

The United Auto Workers––which represents hundreds of thousands of autoworkers and is 

 thousands more at foreign automakers and EV manufacturers to try to secure workers’ futures in the 

––filed federal labor charges against Volkswagen, ratified a contract for EV battery plant workers, and threw its support behind proposed tariffs that have 

The UAW alleged that Volkswagen is “violating US labor law” by reducing jobs at a Tennessee plant and claimed the automaker is attempting to “make major changes without first negotiating with the union, as required by law.” Volkswagen says this claim is “categorically false” and that it has been negotiating the shift reduction with the union “for months.”

 to join the UAW and are negotiating their first contract with the company.

VW attributed its decision to reduce a shift at the plant, where it builds numerous models including the electric ID.4, in part to slower EV demand, as well as 

 to make its global business more efficient. The company is implementing a voluntary attrition program.

“The UAW has notified the Trump administration of Volkswagen’s unacceptable, anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-American conduct,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “It is no accident that they want to ram through a layoff in America in the days before expected auto tariffs take effect, as they profit from high exploitation labor in Mexico.”

Despite UAW leadership’s historically sour relationship with President Donald Trump, the union backed his proposed 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and spoke out against the harm it says unrestricted free trade has had on US workers.

“Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals,” the union said in a statement. “We are glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class.”

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, pointed to a 1960s trade policy known as the 

, whose name came from a dispute over Germany refusing to buy chickens from the US, to explain the UAW’s stance.

“In retaliation, the United States passed a 25% tariff on pickup trucks,” Wheaton told Tech Brew. “In effect, it was designed to try to stop Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, who were the two biggest German automakers of any kind of trucks at that time or commercial vans...The net effect was that they stopped almost all other pickup trucks being imported to the US.”

But while that policy has held steady for decades, Trump has repeatedly changed his tariffs policy.

“I think there’s support for tariffs in general,” Wheaton said, “but I don’t know that the UAW is going out of the way to say, ‘Trump’s got it perfect.’”

This month, UAW members in Spring Hill, Tennessee, 

 their first contract with Ultium Cells, an EV battery manufacturing joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution.

“We do the hard, dangerous work of building EV batteries, and now we’ve got a union contract that guarantees our future,” bargaining team member Derrick Kinzer said in a statement.

The contract mirrors the one that workers at an Ultium plant in Ohio 

In a statement, Ultium Cells said it “looks forward to working with the UAW at the Spring Hill [plant] as we implement the contents of the agreement.”

UAW President Shawn Fain in an Eat the Rich t-shirt

UAW backs Trump admin’s tariffs, and more auto labor news

The UAW is attempting to organize thousands of workers at foreign automakers and EV manufacturers in a bid to secure workers’ future in the industry’s EV transition.

The United Auto Workers recently made progress in its 

 to organize workers across the EV sector––but the next four years are likely to be challenging for organized labor with a 

The UAW announced in November that a “supermajority of workers” at a joint-venture EV battery plant in Kentucky had signed cards indicating their support for unionization and taking their organizing campaign public (the union didn’t specify how many workers had signed, and workers would still have to vote to join the union). The plant, called BlueOval SK, is part of a joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On.

In a statement, BlueOval SK HR Director Neva Burke said, “We are excited about our future and strive to maintain our direct relationship with our employees.”

The news comes on the heels of recent gains the UAW has made at Ultium Cells, a joint venture that produces batteries for General Motors’ EVs. Ultium workers at a plant in Ohio ratified their 

 in June, and workers at an Ultium plant in Tennessee joined the UAW in September.

“The ability of the UAW to successfully organize the Ford joint-venture battery plant in Kentucky is a major milestone,” Harley Shaiken, a labor expert and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, told Tech Brew. Still, he acknowledged that “it’s still very much an uphill climb for the future.”

 A second Trump administration is likely to make the UAW’s efforts to organize hundreds of thousands of workers at foreign-owned auto plants and EV manufacturers more difficult.

“This is going to be a very tough administration for the union to deal with. We saw that in Trump’s first term,” Shaiken said. “In his 

, with President-elect Trump being far more familiar with how things work, it could be even tougher.”

Trump could, for example, appoint National Labor Relations Board members who are less friendly to organized labor than those appointed under President Biden.

The UAW has a contentious relationship with Trump; the president-elect and UAW President Shawn Fain have traded criticisms and insults, and the union mounted a large campaign to support Vice President Kamala Harris in this year’s election.

In the wake of the election, Fain issued a statement saying that the union’s “fight remains the same” regardless of who’s in power: “It’s time for Washington, DC, to put up or shut up, no matter the party, no matter the candidate.”

Meanwhile, Volkswagen workers are in the process of negotiating their first contract after winning a union election earlier this year. The UAW now represents some 4,300 workers at a VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

But the union’s efforts to organize workers at plants owned by automakers like Toyota and Hyundai have faltered, the Wall Street Journal 

 of an election at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama in May.

Shaiken said wins at EV battery plants could help the union make its case. Organizing these workers is a key priority for the union, he explained, because despite some 

, electrification is still regarded as the auto industry’s future. The UAW 

 to shore up its membership and secure working conditions and pay on par with what traditional union autoworkers enjoy.

“We’re on the cusp of some very large changes in the politics and economy of the United States, in a very uncertain world,” Shaiken said. “For labor, it’s a tough moment, but labor has often done its most impressive work when the obstacles were very real.”

UAW President Shawn Fain speaks from a podium.

UAW makes progress on EV organizing campaign, but faces challenges ahead

“The ability of the UAW to successfully organize the Ford joint-venture battery plant in Kentucky is a major milestone,” one labor expert tells Tech Brew.

The United Auto Workers hit a roadblock when workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama 

UAW leaders vowed to press on with their 

 across the automotive industry—and labor experts said that while the Mercedes loss is a setback, it doesn’t have to spoil the broader movement.

“It’s a David-versus-Goliath fight,” UAW President Shawn Fain said during a May 17 news conference after the National Labor Relations Board confirmed that 56% of workers had 

. “Sometimes, Goliath wins the battle, but ultimately David will win the war. These workers will win their fair share.”

Fain accused Mercedes of engaging in “egregious illegal behavior,” which the company has previously 

 anti-union campaign, and the UAW’s organizing efforts are facing strong opposition from Republican elected officials like Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

In a statement, Mercedes said that its “goal throughout this process was to ensure every eligible team member had the opportunity to participate in a fair election.”

The UAW unveiled its organizing campaign after winning record contracts for about 150,000 Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis workers following a historic strike last year. It looks to organize workers at foreign automakers and electric-vehicle makers, including Honda, Hyundai, Rivian, Tesla, and Toyota.

The effort aims in part to secure jobs at EV assembly and battery plants amid concerns about potential job losses during the electric transition.

 at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a vote that was seen as a 

 of the UAW’s ability to expand its influence beyond the domestic auto industry and into the historically anti-union South.

Despite the loss being a “big disappointment for the UAW…there are legal avenues open to the UAW to challenge the outcome,” Sharon Block, professor of practice and executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and a former NLRB and Labor Department official, noted in a statement sent by Evan Kendall of SKDK.

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University’s ILR School, told Tech Brew via email that the loss “should not stop their organizing efforts in the South and non-union auto sector.”

“Mercedes and the state governor actively pushing anti-union activities makes organizing tough,” he said. “It was the first vote; it likely won’t be the last.”

UAW vows to press on with organizing bid after losing Mercedes election

“Sometimes, Goliath wins the battle, but ultimately David will win the war,” UAW President Shawn Fain said after the union lost an election at a Mercedes plant in Alabama.

 the nonunion auto industry and make inroads in the South will be put to the test this week.

Workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 

 by secret ballot April 17–19 in an election administered by the National Labor Relations Board. For decades, the union has struggled to expand its reach beyond the domestic auto industry and into the South, a major auto manufacturing hub that’s widely covered by anti-union laws.

 for the UAW’s drive to organize about 150,000 autoworkers at more than a dozen foreign automakers and EV manufacturers. The push is aimed at boosting the UAW’s membership and securing workers’ place in the EV transition.

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, told Tech Brew that the election is the union’s “best chance,” given a long history of organizing efforts there that yielded narrow losses for the union votes in 2014 and 2019.

The odds may be more in the union’s favor this time.

“I think the UAW has dramatically increased its approval ratings over the last year or two compared to previously,” Wheaton said. “They got huge wins at the Detroit Three negotiations. They had the president of the United States walking a picket line with them.”

The stakes are high: A win would give workers across the industry more leverage to negotiate with employers, he said.

Isaac Meadows, an assembly worker at the plant, said in a statement that he’s “voting yes to win a better life for ourselves and our families. We need a say in our schedules, benefits, pay, and more. We’re proud to work at Volkswagen, but we also know the value of a voice at work.”

Volkswagen has said it respects the rights of its workers to decide if they want to unionize, and noted recent improvements, like 11% raises.

The union’s next chance won’t be far behind: Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, earlier this month filed a petition for an NLRB election.

 auto workers across the country had signed union authorization cards; Hyundai and Toyota workers also have taken their campaigns public.

"We stand with the UAW" sign sitting on the grass with a manufacturing plant in the background.

Union election at Tennessee VW plant is a major test for UAW auto industry organizing effort

One labor expert told Tech Brew that the vote by VW workers is the UAW’s “best chance” at making progress in its organizing campaign.

The United Auto Workers notched a win in its campaign to organize hundreds of thousands of nonunion autoworkers across the US.

The union said this week that workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election after a “supermajority” of workers at the plant signed union authorization cards.

“It is a major milestone and a historic moment. We’re on the cusp of a union election that could prove transformative,” Harley Shaiken, a labor expert and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, told Tech Brew.

The move marks the first filing for a union election since the UAW launched its ambitious organizing campaign on the heels of 

 with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis last year.

 with its organizing drive at the VW plant in December. The union also has its sights set on BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, and Volvo plants. It has committed $40 million to the effort and reported a few 

“Today, we are one step closer to making a good job at Volkswagen into a great career,” Chattanooga worker Isaac Meadows said in a press release. “By winning our union and a real voice at Volkswagen, we can negotiate for more time with our families.”

In a statement, spokesperson Michael Lowder said that VW respects its “workers’ right to a democratic process and to determine who should represent their interests.”

“We will fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision,” he said.

According to VW, the average employee at the plant will earn at least $60,000 this year. The company raised wages 11% in November.

The Chattanooga plant, which employs more than 4,000 hourly workers, has 

 of organizing efforts. The UAW lost previous elections there in 2014 and 2019 by very small margins amid fierce opposition from Republican elected officials, Shaiken said. This time around, conditions may be more favorable for the union.

“The gains that came off [the UAW’s strike of the Detroit automakers]…were stellar gains, and I suspect they were closely watched by workers in other factories—especially Chattanooga,” he said. “If they do win, there could be a domino effect at several of the other 13 nonunion automakers.”

Workers at Volkswagen plant in Tennessee petition for union election

“We’re on the cusp of a union election that could prove transformative,” one labor expert told Tech Brew.

Patrick Kulp

Unlike tech disruption waves past, the job displacement effects of generative AI are more likely to start in white-collar offices than on factory floors.

 from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and The Burning Glass Institute found that jobs in finance, legal, and tech fields are among those most exposed to the effects of a new wave of generative AI.

The report lists jobs like loan and mortgage brokers, law office workers, and some accounting roles as especially high-risk. Areas of tech like data processing and hosting services, software publishing, and custom computer programming were also listed as vulnerable.

While other technological changes have hit low-wage work especially hard, the report said these types of roles will likely remain relatively unscathed by AI.

“The GenAI automation wave is unique in that blue-collar workers may be the least harmed,” the report’s authors wrote. “The reasons for this are both increased demand for these workers due to the growth of premium goods and service categories and the inability of GenAI to perform physical tasks. In fact, the occupations most exposed to GenAI are high-wage, professional roles.”

, data retrieval, and drafting boilerplate text make it especially appealing to information-heavy industries like 

. Businesses that have explored generative AI have also 

The report’s authors do predict job losses in those sectors, but they also suspect the turmoil will ultimately only be a bump in the road. Because higher-wage jobs could be lost, the report reasons, executives could initially save more on payroll, which might ultimately translate into more hiring down the line.

“While those disruptions will carry a high human cost, they are likely to be only temporary,” the report said. “Corporate profits will increase as firms benefit from decreased payroll costs. In a competitive market, we expect price decreases to follow. Finally, price cuts and new jobs created by GenAI will drive increased demand, and employment will rebound, at least somewhat.”

An office full of silhouettes of workers filled with The Matrix-style cascading computer code

Banking, legal, and tech jobs most at risk for AI disruption

A new report says white-collar workers are most vulnerable to the effects of the technology.

 is plugging along—even as the clock is ticking ahead of a possible White House changeover.

The Detroit-based union said this week that some 10,000 workers across the nonunion auto industry have signed union cards, a step in the uphill battle toward winning union representation and securing workers’ future, especially amid the EV transition.

The UAW launched the ambitious organizing effort after 

 for roughly 150,000 workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis last year after a historic strike targeting all three domestic automakers. Now, the union has set its sights on dozens of plants operated by 13 foreign automakers and EV startups: Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Subaru, Mazda, Rivian, Lucid, and Hyundai.

“Our Stand Up movement has caught fire among America’s autoworkers, far beyond the Big Three,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement announcing the 10,000-signature milestone. “These workers are standing up for themselves, for their families, and for their communities, and our union will have their back every step of the way.”

Workers at a VW plant in Tennessee, plus Mercedes and Hyundai plants in Alabama, have gone public with their campaigns.

Still, the union has its work cut out for it—and it could face greater obstacles if Trump takes back the White House later this year, one labor expert told us.

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said that “10,000 is a pretty good number, but it’s still nowhere near enough to start trying to schedule [National Labor Relations Board] elections.”

Organizers must get at least 30% of the workforce signed up to seek an NLRB-administered election, but Wheaton noted that they usually try to get significantly more than that. The UAW has said it would pursue recognition once plants get 70% of potential members to sign union cards.

“There’s probably close to 100,000 to 150,000 potential [members] so you’re not even at 10% yet,” Wheaton said. “But it does move the needle. Organizing is done one worker at a time. They’ve got 10,000 that have said ‘yes’ and signed a card, but it helps their awareness, saying, ‘Look, you’re not the only one. We’ve got 10,000 people here with you. Sign up.’”

Despite the union’s previous struggles to organize the rest of the auto sector, labor and auto industry experts have pointed to several factors that could be in the UAW’s favor this time around, including a friendly White House, momentum across the rest of the US labor movement, and the UAW’s recent contract wins.

Underscoring what’s at stake in this year’s presidential election, the UAW recently 

“There’s a very, very big difference between pro-union Biden and very anti-union Trump,” Wheaton said. “So the stakes are high. If they can win some of those elections with a more favorable NLRB, their chances of winning are better.”

United Automobile Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain speaks as UAW members and their supporters gather for Solidarity Sunday at the UAW Region 1 office in Warren, Michigan, on August 20, 2023. 