The latest UAW workers’ union expansion is historic. The team at VW Chattanooga are the first southern auto workers outside Detroit’s Big Three to join UAW. Here’s to hoping it will be a net positive for the future of the U.S. automotive industry.

UAW’s full name is the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. Founded in 1935, it has maintained major bargaining power in Detroit because its members work at GM, Ford, and Chrysler plants. As the Detroit Three expanded to plants in the southern U.S., those new workers voted to join the UAW too.

Today, foreign automakers have built factories all across the southern U.S. Toyota has plants in Texas, Alabama, and Kentucky. Honda also has a plant in Alabama. Nissan operates plants in Tennessee and Mississippi. Hyundai/Kia have factories in Alabama and Georgia. Mercedes-Benz is in Alabama. BMW builds its SUVs in South Carolina. Many of these workers are unionized, but not with the UAW. Until today.

VW Chattanooga, Tennessee, joins the UAW

According to the UAW, Volkswagen’s Chattanooga “workers voted 3-to-1 to join the UAW in 2024.” They established a negotiating committee, and with the UAW’s help, they negotiated a 20% “across-the-board wage increases.” They also negotiated higher quality health care, safety standards, and job protections.

“For years, Chattanooga workers were told to settle for less while Volkswagen made record profits. So, the workers stood together and won their union—and now they’ve secured a life-changing first agreement…This deal proves what happens when autoworkers stand up and demand their fair share. People said Southern autoworkers could never form a union or win a union contract. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga said, ‘Watch this.’” — UAW President Shawn Fain

This is a massive win for the American auto worker. And sorely needed. 

The industry is evolving rapidly, with unmanned “dark factories” in China, churning out vehicles for foreign markets that are technologically “far superior” to Detroit (according to Ford’s CEO). U.S. workers argue that recent layoffs prove short-sighted automakers treat workers as temporary.

Unlike automakers, the UAW is incentivized to consider the entire career trajectory of its members. As its footprint expands, the UAW may be able to step up, retrain autoworkers for the evolving industry, and guarantee the U.S. remains a cutting-edge manufacturing powerhouse for decades. And I’m cheering it on. It’s looking doubtful any other entity in the U.S.—from private industry to government—is willing to do the same.