After securing new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers, the United Auto Workers union said on Wednesday that it is beginning a historic campaign to openly organize the entire nonunion auto sector in the United States.
The Detroit-based UAW claimed that workers at thirteen nonunion automakers—Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Rivian, Nissan, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz—were announcing simultaneous campaigns to join the union across the country.
At their American assembly factories, these automakers employ close to 150,000 people, which is about equal to the workforces of the Detroit Three corporations, with which the UAW recently inked new labor deals.
UAW President Shawn Fain stated that it was now time for all auto workers who were working without union benefits to organize in a video that was uploaded on a website urging workers to sign electronic cards requesting union representation.
In their agreements with General Motors, Ford Motor, and Stellantis, the UAW secured a 25% raise in base pay through 2028, shortened the time to reach top pay from eight years to three years, and increased temporary workers' pay by 150% to make them permanent employees.
The UAW provided a thorough organizational plan. The union threatened to go public if thirty percent of employees at a nonunion plant signed cards indicating their desire to join. The UAW would stage a demonstration alongside Fain to promote the project if 50% of the workers wanted to join. The UAW would demand a vote on union representation or seek recognition once it reached 70% and established an organizing committee.
