Overview
- A supermajority of workers approved the authorization, granting negotiators strike authority at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga assembly plant.
- The union says Volkswagen’s latest proposal lacks explicit protections against plant closures, outsourcing or the sale of the facility, making job security the central sticking point.
- Volkswagen’s posted “last and final” offer features a 20% wage increase over four years, first-time cost-of-living adjustments and a $4,000 ratification bonus, and CEO Kjell Gruner urged a vote on it.
- The UAW says it is seeking further bargaining and has accused Volkswagen of unfair labor practices, while the company says its offer remains on the table.
- About 3,200 employees are represented at the plant, which builds the electric ID.4 and the Atlas SUV, and this marks the first strike-authorization vote at a non-Detroit automaker in the modern era.