The United Automobile Workers union declared on Wednesday that it was embarking on a significant effort to unionize plants owned by over a dozen nonunion automakers, including Tesla and various foreign companies — a goal it has long pursued.
This move comes after the U.A.W. secured new contracts from General Motors, Ford Motor, and Stellantis, which included significant wage increases over four and a half years for its 146,000 members.
In addition to Tesla, the drive is targeting two other electric vehicle start-ups, Lucid and Rivian, as well as 10 foreign-owned automakers: Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda, and Volvo.
The union stated that these companies’ U.S. plants employ nearly 150,000 workers across 13 states.
If the organizing drive gains momentum, it could become one of the largest by the U.A.W. since its establishment in the 1930s. Previous efforts to unionize even single plants owned by foreign automakers, mainly located in the South, have been unsuccessful. A breakthrough with these companies would signify a significant shift in the American auto industry, where nonunion manufacturers have historically held a considerable cost advantage over the Detroit automakers.
The union stated that the organizing drive was spurred by inquiries from several thousand workers at nonunion plants.
“Workers across the country, from the West to the Midwest and especially in the South, are reaching out to join our movement and to join the U.A.W.,” said the union’s president, Shawn Fain, in a video posted on Facebook. “The money is there. The time is right.”
Honda cited competitive wages and benefits, stating, “We do not believe an outside party would enhance the excellent employment experience of our associates.” Hyundai mentioned its excellent wages and benefits but did not acknowledge any interest in union representation. Subaru highlighted wage increases and its benefits package but did not specifically comment on the union drive. Rivian and Volkswagen declined to comment.
During the DealBook Summit conference, Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, expressed his stance on unionization, stating, “If Tesla gets unionized, it will be because we deserve it and we failed in some way.” He reiterated his opposition to unions, emphasizing that “it’s not good to have an adversarial relationship” within a company.
The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
On Wednesday, the U.A.W. launched websites allowing workers to electronically sign cards that serve as an official certification of their desire to have union representation. Previously, at several plants, the U.A.W. had already received signed cards from over 30 percent of the workforce, meeting the threshold required under federal law for the union to proceed with a vote on unionization, according to a knowledgeable source.
The union is now working to dispatch organizers to areas around these nonunion plants to collaborate with workers at these factories, this source disclosed.
Following the U.A.W.’s agreements with the Detroit automakers to raise wages, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai also announced plans to increase workers’ pay.
Toyota informed workers of a 9 percent hourly rate increase in January. Honda and Hyundai are set to raise wages by 11 percent and 14 percent, respectively, next year. Hyundai intends to implement a 25 percent wage hike by 2028.
The U.A.W. stated on Wednesday that it was making a concentrated effort to unionize a large Toyota plant in Georgetown, Ky., which employs approximately 7,800 workers and produces the Camry sedan and RAV4 sport utility vehicle.
U.A.W. members have historically earned more than nonunion workers. Wages at Southern plants typically start below $20 per hour and peak at less than $30. The top U.A.W. hourly wage, previously $32, has now surpassed $40 in the contracts signed with the three Detroit manufacturers.
In the past decade, the U.A.W. has faced setbacks, narrowly missing out in 2014 and 2019 in unionization votes at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. The U.A.W. experienced a substantial defeat at a Nissan plant in Canton, Miss., in 2017. Organizing efforts at other companies’ plants have fizzled out before reaching a vote.
However, since Mr. Fain assumed the role of union president this year, the U.A.W. has pledged a more aggressive approach to its contract negotiations with the Big Three and vowed to reinvigorate its expansion in the industry.
In addition to wage gains at the Detroit companies, the U.A.W. secured agreements to preserve jobs and prevent the closure of a Stellantis plant in Illinois.
Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, noted that the U.A.W.’s wage gains strengthen the case for joining the union.
“It shows collective bargaining works and shows the U.A.W. was successful,” he commented. “They can say: ‘We saved this plant. Look at what we got. You can have this, too.’”
Mr. Wheaton added that past organizing drives suffered due to the U.A.W.’s tarnished image: Many unionized plants had closed, its members had been required to accept wage and benefit cuts to aid the Detroit manufacturers during the 2009 financial crisis, and senior union officials had been implicated in federal corruption investigations.
“A lot of the negative things about the union — a lot of that stuff has gone away now,” Mr. Wheaton stated.
Santul Nerkar contributed reporting.
