UAW scores another major victory in the South as EV battery workers move to unionize
Spring Hill, Tennessee - A majority of workers at Ultium Cells in Tennessee have signed cards to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union!
Ultium agreed to recognize the Spring Hill union after a majority of its 1,000 EV battery workers signed cards with the UAW without facing threats or retaliation, according to the union.
"This is a great day for Ultium workers and for every worker in Tennessee and the South," Ultium employee Trudy Lindahl said in a press release.
"Southern workers are ready to stand up and win our fair share by winning our unions. And when we have a free and fair choice, we will win every time."
The Spring Hill plant became the second Ultium facility in the country to unionize after workers in Lordstown, Ohio, successfully organized back in 2022.
Tuesday's victory represents the latest notch on the UAW's belt amid a major campaign to unionize workers, particularly across the South, which has some of the US' strictest anti-labor measures in place.
In April, the union secured a momentous win at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where workers overwhelmingly voted to unionize after two prior failed attempts.
"The UAW members at Ultium and VW are proving that the new jobs of the South will be union jobs," said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith.
"In the battery plants and EV factories springing up from Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, workers know they deserve the same strong pay and benefits our members have won. And we’re going to make sure they have the support they need to win their unions and win their fair share."
Cover photo: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network