Volkswagen: Can the United Autoworkers Union win in the American south? - BBC News

VW workers in the south vote on whether to join a union - a test of how far worker activism has spread.

16 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage caption, Yolanda Peoples has worked on prior union drives that failed during her 13 years at VolkswagenBy Natalie ShermanBusiness reporter, New YorkYolanda Peoples has tried for more than a decade to convince her co-workers at Volkswagen's factory in the southern state of Tennessee that joining the United Autoworkers Union (UAW) would pay off in increased job security, higher wages and a more comfortable retirement.

Colleagues in Chattanooga have twice rejected the idea.

Now, as her factory faces another vote on the question, this daughter and granddaughter of UAW members thinks she might finally have made her case.

"The whole atmosphere feels different," she said. "They understand more about what we're fighting for."

The election, which involves roughly 4,300 workers and starts on 17 April, is the first to emerge from a campaign UAW leaders announced last year to try to win new members at 13 foreign-owned car factories based in the south.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68763233

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