Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., passed a historic vote to join the United Auto Workers, an outcome that would make their plant the first Southern auto factory to approve a union with an election since the 1940s.
The union’s unofficial vote count, which still must be confirmed by federal labor officials conducting the ballot, showed 73 percent of workers had voted yes by 10 pm on Friday night. It will take a simple majority for the vote to pass.
The vote marks a victory for the UAW and for organized labor, which has faced years of difficulty organizing factories in Southern states. The UAW has twice previously failed to unionize the VW plant, in 2014 and 2019. If the vote passes, the plant will join a handful of other unionized auto factories in the South, where local laws and customs have made it hard for unions to make inroads.
The victory came after a concerted campaign by local VW workers, assisted by UAW staff, who rallied workers to their cause by pledging that the union would help them fight for better health care and retirement benefits and more paid time off.
The union campaign also delivers a political victory for President Biden, who won the UAW’s endorsement earlier this year and has supported union expansion efforts.