The UAW’s successful strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers has workers at more than a dozen other car companies interested in joining the union.
The UAW says thousands of non-union autoworkers at companies including BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo have announced campaigns to organize their workforces. If successful, the campaigns could add nearly 150,000 workers to the union — doubling its current membership among autoworkers.
“To all the autoworkers out there working without the benefits of a union: now it’s your turn,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video statement. “Since we began our Stand Up Strike, the response from autoworkers at non-union companies has been overwhelming. Workers across the country, from the West to the Midwest and especially in the South, are reaching out to join our movement and to join the UAW.”
He added, “The money is there. The time is right. And the answer is simple. You don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. You don’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay your rent or feed your family while the company makes billions. A better life is out there.”
Launched in September, Fain’s Stand Up Strike saw about the union go on strike against all three Detroit automakers simultaneously for the first time in its history. The new strategy saw the union stagger participating striking plants in order to preserve its strike fund and also give it leverage in negotiations with the auto companies.
The novel strategy worked. The strike won back many sacrifices the union made following the 2008 government bailout of the auto industry, including immediate wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments, and the elimination of wage tiers. The union also successfully pressured Stellantis to reopen an Illinois plant that was shuttered earlier this year to build a new battery plant there, adding jobs.
The UAW launched a website uaw.org/join to help the unionization efforts.
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