Volkswagens are seen in the employee parking lot at the Volkswagen automobile assembly plant on March 20, 2024 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Elijah Nouvelage | Getty Images
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers notched a big win this weekend.
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the UAW – marking the Detroit union’s first victory at a foreign-owned automaker plant in the South. The vote could have wide-ranging impacts on other automakers, organized labor and the overall U.S. automotive industry.
“This is a really profound victory for the UAW and the labor movement in general,” said Alex Hertel-Fernandez, a former U.S. Department of Labor official and associate professor at Columbia University. “It’s also a really decisive victory.”
Union organizing passed with 73% of the vote, or 2,628 workers, in support for the UAW, according to the…
