Automotive
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/UAWlogo_Updated-2.0.png)
VW workers in Tennessee vote to join UAW
Written by Michael Cowden
April 21, 2024
Workers at Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have voted overwhelmingly to join the United Autoworkers (UAW) union.
More than 3,600 ballots were cast, with 73% of Chattanooga workers voting to join the UAW and only 27% voting against unionization, per the UAW.
Volkswagen on Friday confirmed the tally and said it was awaiting certification of the results from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The plant in Chattanooga is Volkswagen’s only US assembly plant. It makes the Volkswagen ID.4 and Volkswagen Atlas SUVs.
The development follows big gains in wages and benefits negotiated by the UAW last year among the “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The union has used that accomplishment to gain traction in the South, where the auto industry is often characterized by foreign ownership and non-union workforces.
“People in high places told us good things can’t happen here in Chattanooga. They told us this isn’t the time to stand up, this isn’t the place,” Kelcey Smith, a worker in the paint department, said in a UAW release on Friday.
“But we did stand up and we won. This is the time; this is the place. Southern workers are ready to stand up and win a better life,” he added.
Volkswagen is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. The UAW said it would turn its sites next to Mercedes-Benz, another German automaker.
Mercedes-Benz operates an assembly plant in Vance, Ala. Workers there are scheduled to vote May 13-17 on whether to join the union. Vance, near Tuscaloosa, Ala., makes the GLE and GLS series SUVs.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SMU_MC_headshot-150x150.png)
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Automotive
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Premium1.png)
US light-vehicle sales dip on June cyberattack
US light-vehicle (LV) sales fell to an unadjusted 1.32 million units in June, down 3.4% vs. year-ago levels, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported. The year-on-year (y/y) dip in domestic LV sales came in with a 4% month-on-month (m/m) decline.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Premium1.png)
North American auto assemblies also impacted by cyber breach
North American auto assemblies ticked down by nearly 6% in June after reaching a nine-month high in May, according to LMC Automotive data. Assemblies were also down 1.4% year on year (y/y).
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Stellantis.png)
Stellantis slates temporary layoffs, production cuts
Stellantis announced temporary layoffs at its Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Michigan and its Toledo South Assembly Complex in Ohio. The Netherlands-based automaker is adjusting the operating schedule at the plants to better align production with sales, a spokesperson told SMU in an email.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/CSPA_Canada.png)
CSPA cheers Canada decision to investigate Chinese EVs
The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) has lauded Canada’s decision to launch an investigation into China’s unfair trade practices in electric vehicles (EVs). However, the association hopes the government will go even further and extend the investigation into other sectors.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/newspaper.png)
CDK cyberattack cripples auto dealerships, slows sales
A cyberattack on CDK Global has shut down the systems at automotive dealerships and slowed down sales across the US.