The UAW gains more inroads in the South at an EV battery plant in Tennessee

The United Auto Workers announced on Wednesday that a majority of workers at Ultium Cells in Tennessee have signed cards to join the union and the company has agreed to recognize their union.

Ultium, which is a joint venture of General Motors (NYSE:GM) and LG Energy Solution, did not interfere with the decision by its 1,000 employees to join the UAW. The workers organized without facing threats or intimidation and won their union once a majority of workers signed cards.

“This is a great day for Ultium workers and for every worker in Tennessee and the South,” stated Trudy Lindahl, a worker at Ultium in Spring Hill. “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,” she added.

The Ultium workers’ victory marks the latest big win for autoworkers in the South. Earlier in the year, 4,300 workers at Volkswagen’s plant (OTCPK:VLKAF) in Chattanooga, Tennessee made history as they became the first group of Southern autoworkers outside the Big Three to unionize.

Looking ahead, the union will bargain with Ultium over local contract provisions, but worker pay and other details will fall under the UAW national contract negotiated last fall. Starting pay, which was $20 per hour, will rise to a minimum of $27.72. Over three years, minimum production worker pay will rise to $30.88, per the UAW contract.

Spring Hill is the second GM joint venture battery plant to join the union and fall under the national contract. Workers at a plant near Warren, Ohio, voted to join the union in 2022.