Posts tagged EV
Whatever happened to the effort by workers to unionize KY’s EV battery plant?
July 11, 2025 // The KyPolicy report says pressure from successful UAW bargaining at Louisville’s Kentucky Truck Plant and Ford Assembly Plant, and at Bowling Green’s General Motors Corvette facility has resulted in non-union plants across the state to boost wages. In December, BlueOval said starting wages would increase by between $2.50 and $3.50 per hour to as little as $21 per hour and as much as $32 per hour.
Editorial: Unionizing Uber and Lyft drivers may speed up their robotic replacement
July 2, 2025 // Here’s the issue for drivers. Labor talks are playing out as Uber and its competitors are investing heavily in driverless vehicles, just like Tesla. Uber isn’t hiding that future. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi even told The Wall Street Journal this year he expects AVs to gradually overtake human drivers.
Editorial: Unionizing Uber and Lyft drivers may speed up their robotic replacement
June 27, 2025 // And as anyone who regularly takes an Uber well knows, the prices went up once the cabs were vanquished. A lot. Taxi prices, a source of complaint for generations of Chicagoans, now often look like a bargain in comparison to Uber or Lyft, especially when it rains or there’s a ballgame in the neighborhood. As Big Tech’s variable pricing ravages our wallets, regulated rates have never looked better to many of us. With ride-share prices rising, policymakers are now weighing how best to support drivers — but those efforts, including unionization, could unintentionally make things worse for both riders and drivers as driverless technology gains traction.
Mercedes-Benz is yanking 400 jobs out of Michigan — and ‘doubling down’ on Georgia
May 27, 2025 // Georgia is on its way to becoming a key automotive hub in the U.S. Porsche (VWAGY) opened its North American headquarters there in 1998. Kia (HYMTF) opened its first North American plant in West Point in 2010. More recently, Hyundai opened an EV factory there in March 2025, touting it as “the largest economic development project in the state’s history [...].” Back in Michigan, a Mercedes-Benz Financial Services spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that the company is maintaining 180 R&D jobs in the state. “That number will grow to up to 200 total technical roles in Michigan for Mercedes-Benz,” said communications director Melinda Mernovage. “The roles leaving Michigan are not layoffs, and all employees will have the opportunity to transfer to the Atlanta headquarters.”
Beshear calls it the world’s largest EV battery plant, now they want to unionize
February 13, 2025 // The unionization rate in Kentucky has grown the past two years, and with Ford having two organized assembly plants in nearby Louisville, the next UAW victory seems logical in Glendale. “I’m not surprised to see this union organizing drive, and my guess is, the union will be successful when it comes up for a vote, especially if there’s already, shall we say, some misunderstandings about raises and safety,” stated economist Allen. “That’s going to make Ford’s job that much more difficult.” A date will be set by the for a secret-ballot election, and if a majority of workers vote in favor of the union, the next step is negotiating a contract for what will become the 10th largest manufacturing site in the world.
UAW scores supermajority at BlueOval SK in 2025’s first big labor win
January 27, 2025 // The supermajority vote by workers at BlueOval SK occurred after attending a town hall-style meeting in Elizabethtown, Kentucky with UAW members from Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio last month. The Lordstown Ultium plant makes battery cells for GM and Honda electric vehicles and, like the BlueOval SK (BOSK) project, is a joint venture between one of the Detroit 3 and a Korean battery brand (in the case of Ultium, GM and LG; in the case of BlueOval SK, Ford and SK On).
UAW Reaches Secret Deal With Rivian to Make Unionizing Easier
December 25, 2024 //
A year later, where does the UAW’s southern organizing campaign stand?
December 11, 2024 // That's where many auto manufacturers, both foreign and domestic, are locating their plants in recent years, and that trend will continue if it means automakers can pay less for labor. In 2023, the UAW's membership shrunk to about 370,000 members, the lowest number since the Great Recession. "The rule in labor organizing is, you have to organize the critical labor market," Schurman said. But the UAW also must prepare to play the long game, even if it means losing elections on the initial try.
UAW says majority of workers at Ford joint-venture battery plant sign union cards
November 22, 2024 // The UAW said a "supermajority" of workers at the Ford Kentucky battery plant had signed union cards indicating their support. It did not specify the percentage. "We want to maintain a direct relationship with our employees," BlueOval SK Human Resources Director Neva Burke said in a statement. Ford directed Reuters to BlueOval SK for comment.
Bernie Moreno, former car dealer elected to Senate, says Fain is a hack not helping workers
November 12, 2024 // Moreno did try to save jobs back in 2018 when General Motors announced it would permanently close its Lordstown Assembly plant in northeast Ohio, which built the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. As the Free Press reported in 2019, Moreno met with GM leaders, proposing to buy 150,000 to 180,000 Cruze cars to start a global ride-hailing company similar to Uber. GM CEO Mary Barra rejected the idea. GM shuttered Lordstown that spring.