OEMs

VW workers in Tennessee start campaign to join UAW
Written by Ethan Bernard
December 7, 2023
Volkswagen Group of America workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., have launched a campaign to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
“Over 1,000 workers have signed union authorization cards in less than a week and gone public with their union drive at Volkswagen’s only US plant in Chattanooga,” UAW said in a press release on Thursday.
The union called the move “a surprise breakthrough in the UAW’s national campaign to organize all non-union autoworkers at 13 companies.”
The UAW noted that over 30% of VW workers in Chattanooga have joined the movement, “marking a major milestone in their organizing campaign.”
The union added that this growing trend among non-union autoworkers across the US “builds off the success of the UAW’s ‘Stand-Up’ Strike” at the Detroit-area “Big Three” automakers. Around 50,000 workers struck for over 40 days starting in mid-September to “win record contracts at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.”
“People are standing up like never before,” Steve Cochran, a VW employee and a leader of the workers moving to unionize at the automaker, said in the release. “There are a lot of young workers in the plant now and this generation wants respect.”
A spokesperson for VW USA did not return a request for comment by time of publication.

Ethan Bernard
Read more from Ethan BernardLatest in OEMs

Chicago Business Barometer drops in August
The Chicago Business Barometer, a leading indicator for the broader US economy, remains in contraction, slipping 5.6 points to 41.5 in August.

Galvanized steel prices slip while demand remains flat: HARDI
Galvanized steel prices dipped to ~$48/hundredweight in August from the $50-59/hundredweight range during the month of July.

Manufacturing in New York state improves again in August
Business activity in New York state improved modestly in August. It was just the second positive reading for the general business conditions index in six months.

Manufacturing in New York state recovers in July
Business activity in New York state recovered slightly in July, with the Empire State Manufacturing Index seeing its first positive reading in four months.

ISM: Manufacturing growth slowed again in June
US manufacturing activity slowed for a fourth straight month in June. That's a sharp shift after trending up for most of Q1.