Posts tagged Chattanooga
With or Without UAW Momentum, Southern Autoworker Activists Determined to Fight On
June 22, 2026 // Still, despite the waning of organizing momentum, workers say that poor treatment has created ripe conditions for organizing. Ballooning health insurance costs have also been eating into Southern auto workers’ paychecks, even as coverage deteriorates. “Up until this year, our health care was free,” says Murphy. “Now we have to pay for it.
Opinion: UAW Constitutional Convention can protect direct democracy
June 17, 2026 // We also know what the delegate system got us: corruption and concessions. Throughout the final decade of delegate elections, members endured concessions that weakened our contracts and confidence in our union. At the same time, top officials were involved in a racketeering, bribery and embezzlement scandal that eventually landed them in prison. All the while, the delegate system continued to produce leaders from the same Administration Caucus.
Schnellecke Logistics workers vote 2-1 to unionize with UAW at VW Chattanooga plant
June 7, 2026 // Workers at Schnellecke Logistics voted by a 2-1 margin in a National Labor Relations Board election to form a union with the United Auto Workers, marking a major organizing win at the company that handles materials for Volkswagen’s Chattanooga assembly operation.
Op-ed: When Labor Policy Leaves Its Workers Behind
June 2, 2026 // The Faster Labor Contracts Act empowers unions at workers’ expense. Some Republicans failed to see this charade in the House, but hopefully the Senate will have more common sense.
Faster Labor Contracts Act would silence workers’ voices and empower bureaucrats
May 28, 2026 // While forced arbitration for union contracts would be new in the private sector, there is a corollary in the public sector called “interest arbitration” that some states most frequently apply to police and firefighter labor disputes. It’s not entirely analogous because a government that imposes forced arbitration is also the employer and thus part of the contract negotiations. Moreover, governments aren’t subject to the same bottom line as private sector companies because, unlike businesses, states generally can’t go bankrupt. Nevertheless, interest arbitration contracts have burdened state and local governments, arguably contributing to rising property tax rates in New Jersey, unfunded pensions in Chicago, and even municipal bankruptcy in Detroit.
UAW Gains Southern Foothold as VW Workers Ratify First-Ever Contract
February 23, 2026 // The new deal also offers healthcare cost reductions, job security guarantees and other benefits. Volkswagen officials, as has been the case throughout the process, acknowledged the result in a short statement.
Former Chattanooga activist Chris Brooks has left his senior union post after federal monitor report
January 1, 2026 // Chris Brooks, a former Chattanooga activist and an architect of the United Auto Workers' 2024 win at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant, has left his senior union post after a federal monitor's report said he conspired to retaliate against another union leader in an internal power struggle.
How unionizing hurt VW (it has nothing to do with wages)
December 19, 2025 // “You’ll find that the pay scales of the non-union automakers in these right-to-work states are pretty competitive with UAW,” Payne says — but in the ability to adapt to changing markets. Unions add a layer of management that makes it more difficult to shift production, change processes, and retool lines.
Shawn Fain: Future of UAW ‘hangs in the balance’ as strike looms at Volkswagen plant
November 7, 2025 // To Fain, anything shy of total job security is not good enough. The current negotiations at Volkswagen remain stalled over a clause in Volkswagen's current offer that stipulates the company will not close the plant or cut jobs "unless conditions beyond the control of the company arise that make compliance with this commitment impractical." "American workers live in fear," Fain said. "Fear that if they ask for a dollar more, the boss is going to fire them or move the damn plant. That's economic terrorism."
National Right to Work Foundation Issues Notice to VW Chattanooga Employees Impacted By UAW Boss-Ordered Strike
November 4, 2025 // Notice informs VW Team Members of their rights in light of a potential strike at Tennessee production plant