UAW wins union recognition at Ultium battery cell plant in Tennessee

Nora Eckert and David Shepardson
·2 min read
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The United Auto Workers said Wednesday that a battery manufacturing joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution has agreed to recognize the union at a Tennessee plant.

The UAW said a majority of the workers at the Ultium Cells facility signed cards to join the UAW and the company had agreed to recognize their union after workers at an Ohio Ultium plant overwhelmingly voted to join the union in 2022 and won a new contract earlier this year with significant wage hikes. The companies did not immediately comment.

The battery factory employs 1,000 workers.

GM's battery operations were a point of contention in last year's UAW contract negotiations, during which the union held strikes at plants across the Detroit Three automakers for six weeks.

Employees at the Ultium Cells LLC plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, hold the first battery cells made at the plant, which started production in March 2024. It will supply battery cells for General Motors Cadillac Lyriq which GM builds at its Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee.
Employees at the Ultium Cells LLC plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, hold the first battery cells made at the plant, which started production in March 2024. It will supply battery cells for General Motors Cadillac Lyriq which GM builds at its Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee.

The automaker eventually agreed to let its Ultium battery plants come under the union's master agreement once a majority of workers decided to unionize.

“The UAW members at Ultium and VW are proving that the new jobs of the South will be union jobs,” Tim Smith, director for UAW Region 8, which includes Tennessee, said in a statement provided to the Detroit Free Press. “In the battery plants and EV factories springing up from Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, workers know they deserve the same strong pay and benefits our members have won. And we’re going to make sure they have the support they need to win their unions and win their fair share.”

UAW President Shawn Fain is leading a $40 million nationwide organizing effort to expand the UAW's influence, targeting large automakers such as Toyota and Tesla.

Earlier victory for UAW at Chattanooga Volkswagen plant

The recognition marks the latest win this year for autoworkers in the South. In April, 4,300 workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, became the first Southern autoworkers not working for one of the Detroit Three to win union representation.

Weeks after the win, workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama voted against joining the union. The UAW said earlier this year that more than 30% of employees at a Hyundai plant in Alabama and at a Missouri Toyota auto parts factory have signed cards indicating they want to join the UAW.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW wins recognition at Ultium battery cell plant in Tennessee