The UAW appears poised to leverage the 2023 labor contracts with the Detroit 3 as a template for negotiating with Volkswagen at its Chattanooga plant, with talks set to begin Sept. 19.
The union leadership held what it called a bargaining kickoff rally on Sept. 15 in Chattanooga. UAW President Shawn Fain addressed the crowd and provided a live broadcast, as did Chuck Browning, vice president of the UAW-Ford department, and Tim Smith, director of UAW Region 8.
UAW leaders, as well as members of the 20-person elected negotiating committee, wore red polo shirts with the letters GOS on one sleeve, which members said stood for “Get our m—.”
Browning, a veteran negotiator who led the UAW’s labor talks with John Deere in 2021 and Caterpillar and Case New Holland in 2023, will also lead the VW negotiations, along with the negotiating committee. Fain said selecting Browning to lead the negotiations was an easy decision.
VW hired Christena Wilson, a General Motors veteran, in July to take the lead on contract negotiations.
Workers at the company’s Chattanooga plant voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW in April, with 2,628 votes in favor and 985 against. The union has suffered two failed attempts in the past decade to organize at the VW plant.
VW’s ID4 electric compact crossover as well as the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport full-size crossovers are built in Chattanooga. The plant opened in 2011.
“I was here on the first organizing drive when I was much younger,” Browning said. “I’ve waited 15 damn years to be on this podium here. And it feels good to be here.”
The bargaining unit is considerable. There were 4,326 eligible voters in April, including all regular full-time and part-time production and maintenance employees, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
Profit sharing, cost-of-living adjustments, retirement security, affordable health care and the elimination of sliding-scale wages appear to be the UAW’s priorities with VW. Smith said there are 800 demands on the table, without specifying.
“You’ve seen a certain kind of battle and you’ve seen the kind of fight that Volkswagen can put up,” Browning said. “Make no mistake, that fight is coming. It’s going to take everything we’ve got. The whole point of getting a union is getting that union contract that you deserve.”
Browning said workers were very clear about what they wanted in a first contract and then mentioned accountability, respect and time off.
“You want a record deal with higher pay and better benefits. You want profit sharing. You want COLA. You want retirement security,” he said at the rally. “This is just the beginning.”
Volkswagen, in a statement, said it is committed to listening to employee feedback “throughout this process so we can reach an agreement that improves their experience.”
“We will work tirelessly and collaboratively to reach a fair agreement that takes into account the unique nature of our only U.S. plant, our employees and the Chattanooga community,” VW said in the statement. “This will ensure a strong and successful future for Volkswagen Chattanooga with the UAW.”
Fain pointed to wage increases enacted at many assembly plants operated by nonunion Asian and European automakers in the U.S., including Chattanooga, following the UAW’s staggered strikes in 2023 against the Detroit 3. The strikes ultimately produced an unprecedented pay and benefits package for thousands of workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis. Even with the raises at many transplants, Fain said VW workers lag behind workers at other assembly plants in the South.
“An assembly worker at Volkswagen in Tennessee earns 15 percent less in hourly wages than an assembly worker at Ford Motor Company, just down the road at the truck plant in Kentucky,” Fain said. “And that’s before profit sharing.”
Fain also questioned VW Group CEO Oliver Blume’s 2023 salary and the dividends paid by the automaker to shareholders in 2023.
“But here’s what we know: Volkswagen’s most important market is right here in North America,” Fain said. “Their path forward goes through Chattanooga, Tennessee.”
VW’s U.S. sales rose 26 percent to 182,713 in the first half of 2024, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center. Vehicles built in Chattanooga accounted for 36 percent of the company’s deliveries through June.
Negotiations between the UAW and the automaker come at a challenging time for the VW Group.
In early September, VW revealed it was planning to scrap a 30-year-old job security deal with Germany’s powerful labor unions and was considering closing plants in its home country. VW Group’s Audi luxury brand also warned it could end production at a plant in Brussels.
VW hasn’t closed a plant since 1988, when it closed a plant in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.
VW is also behind schedule on an $11 billion cost-cutting program at its namesake brand, while also needing to fund critical international projects, including a potential $5 billion investment in Rivian and a partnership with China’s Xpeng.
Reuters contributed to this report.