Why car workers are rethinking unions

For decades, the factories that foreign carmakers built across the American South stayed largely non-union. In 2017, workers at Nissan’s plant in Canton, Mississippi, voted against joining the United Auto Workers. It looked like the old pattern would hold.

A turning point

That changed quickly. In 2023 the UAW launched a coordinated “stand-up strike” against all three Detroit carmakers at once and won contracts with the largest raises in a generation. In April 2024, workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the union — the first successful vote at a foreign-owned car plant in the South.

Why now?

• Inflation squeezed wages after years of modest increases.
• Record profits during the post-pandemic car shortage made pay demands easier to argue.
• The electric transition raised fears about jobs, because EVs need fewer parts and battery plants often operate under separate contracts.

The counter-arguments

Employers argue that higher labour costs make plants less competitive against rivals, especially as cheaper electric cars arrive from Asia. Results have been mixed: some votes at other plants have gone against the union.

The electric car is not just a new product. It is a renegotiation of who builds cars, where, and on what terms.