UAW wins over 10,000 workers as Biden-Trump rematch looms

The United Auto Workers’ campaign to organize nonunion auto workers is plugging along—even as the clock is ticking ahead of a possible White House changeover.

The Detroit-based union said this week that some 10,000 workers across the nonunion auto industry have signed union cards, a step in the uphill battle toward winning union representation and securing workers’ future, especially amid the EV transition.

The UAW launched the ambitious organizing effort after winning record contracts for roughly 150,000 workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis last year after a historic strike targeting all three domestic automakers. Now, the union has set its sights on dozens of plants operated by 13 foreign automakers and EV startups: Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Subaru, Mazda, Rivian, Lucid, and Hyundai.

“Our Stand Up movement has caught fire among America’s autoworkers, far beyond the Big Three,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement announcing the 10,000-signature milestone. “These workers are standing up for themselves, for their families, and for their communities, and our union will have their back every step of the way.”

Workers at a VW plant in Tennessee, plus Mercedes and Hyundai plants in Alabama, have gone public with their campaigns.

Still, the union has its work cut out for it—and it could face greater obstacles if Trump takes back the White House later this year, one labor expert told us.

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said that “10,000 is a pretty good number, but it’s still nowhere near enough to start trying to schedule [National Labor Relations Board] elections.”

Organizers must get at least 30% of the workforce signed up to seek an NLRB-administered election, but Wheaton noted that they usually try to get significantly more than that. The UAW has said it would pursue recognition once plants get 70% of potential members to sign union cards.

“There’s probably close to 100,000 to 150,000 potential [members] so you’re not even at 10% yet,” Wheaton said. “But it does move the needle. Organizing is done one worker at a time. They’ve got 10,000 that have said ‘yes’ and signed a card, but it helps their awareness, saying, ‘Look, you’re not the only one. We’ve got 10,000 people here with you. Sign up.’”

Despite the union’s previous struggles to organize the rest of the auto sector, labor and auto industry experts have pointed to several factors that could be in the UAW’s favor this time around, including a friendly White House, momentum across the rest of the US labor movement, and the UAW’s recent contract wins.

Underscoring what’s at stake in this year’s presidential election, the UAW recently endorsed Biden (drawing Trump’s ire).

“There’s a very, very big difference between pro-union Biden and very anti-union Trump,” Wheaton said. “So the stakes are high. If they can win some of those elections with a more favorable NLRB, their chances of winning are better.”