The president of the United Auto Workers says he believes this year could see historic gains for the union in its push to organize auto plants in the Deep South.
Shawn Fain, speaking to The Guardian, said last year’s “Stand Up Strike” against the Big Three automakers yielded gains for union members that are resonating with auto workers in states historically resistant to union efforts.
“I truly believe we’re going to see a huge shift this year. I think we’re gonna win in the South,” Fain said.
Fain’s comments come days before voting is scheduled to commence at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga auto plant, where two previous elections have gone against the UAW.
The National Labor Relations Board has yet to set a date for a union election at Mercedes-Benz’s factory in Vance. Earlier this month, more than 5,000 workers had signed union cards, petitioning for a union election at the Tuscaloosa County facility.
Fain pointed out that non-union automakers, including Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Tesla, have announced unsolicited raises, improved benefits and elimination of a two-tier wage structure since the strike last year.
“Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, and they’re fed up … If Volkswagen workers had Ford’s [new] agreement, they would have got $23,000 profit-sharing checks this year. Instead, they got zero,” Fain said.
“We made a big deal in the big three contract fight that these companies made a quarter trillion dollars in profits in the last decade. But the Japanese and Korean six (with U.S. factories) made $480 billion. The German three made $460 billion in profits worldwide. Toyota alone made $256 billion profit in the last decade. Their profit margins are obscenely more gross than they were at the Big Three, and yet their workers get less.”
At the same time as UAW works to organize in Vance, the union is organizing a union drive at Montgomery’s Hyundai factory, where 30% of the workers have signed union cards.
