GM Battery Joint Venture Recognizes UAW At Tennessee Plant

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has announced that a battery manufacturing joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution has agreed to recognize the union at a Tennessee plant, Nora Eckert and David Shepardson reported for Reuters.

The UAW stated that a majority of workers at the Ultium Cells facility signed cards to join the UAW, and the company has agreed to recognize their union. I Photo: General Motors

The UAW stated that a majority of workers at the Ultium Cells facility signed cards to join the UAW, and the company has agreed to recognize their union.

This follows workers at an Ohio Ultium plant overwhelmingly voting to join the union in 2022 and securing a new contract earlier this year with significant wage increases. The battery factory employs 1,000 workers.

GM's battery operations were a point of contention in last year's UAW contract negotiations, during which the union held strikes at plants across the Big Three automakers for six weeks. The automaker eventually agreed to allow its Ultium battery plants to come under the union's master agreement once a majority of workers decided to unionize.

UAW President Shawn Fain is leading a $40 million nationwide organizing effort, targeting large automakers such as Toyota and Tesla.