Volkswagen workers file petition with NLRB to hold vote to join UAW

The UAW is targeting U.S. factories of a dozen companies, including Tesla, Honda and Toyota, in a push to expand its reach beyond its Midwestern stronghold.

For decades the UAW’s main autoworker members have come from Detroit’s Big Three manufacturers — Ford, General Motors and Jeep-maker Stellantis. The union’s past efforts to push into factories in the South have failed.

The ambitious effort comes after the UAW won record raises and other perks in new contracts with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis in the fall. The union is hoping those contracts will help broaden its appeal with autoworkers nationwide.

The UAW launched the campaign in the South late last year, aiming first to get workers to sign union cards stating their interest in joining the UAW. The union said that once 70 percent of workers at a factory sign cards, the UAW would demand that the company recognize the union. If that proves unsuccessful, the union said it would ask the NLRB to hold an election.

UAW spokesman Nathan Janda declined to confirm Monday whether the union had hit that 70 percent threshold.

Volkswagen spokesman Michael Lowder said the UAW did not ask the company to recognize the union but did send VW a copy of the NLRB petition.

VW will “fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision,” Lowder said. “We respect our workers’ right to a democratic process and to determine who should represent their interests,” he added.

NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Blado confirmed receipt of the petition and said more details on an election would be available in the coming weeks.

Past efforts to unionize Southern auto plants foundered in the face of local opposition from conservative politicians and skepticism from workers.

The union says worker attitudes toward unionization are becoming more favorable as younger and more diverse employees join the plants.

The card-signing effort continues at the other auto factories. In January, the UAW said that 30 percent of workers at a Mercedes factory in Alabama had signed union cards. Last month, workers at a Hyundai plant in Alabama also hit that milestone, the union said.

Most auto factories in the South are owned by foreign automakers or newcomers such as Tesla. The manufacturers chose the locations in part because local laws and customs make it harder for unions to organize.