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☆ UAW wins key vote to represent Ohio EV battery factory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Workers at the Ultium Cells plant, co-owned by General Motors and Korean giant LG, voted overwhelmingly this week to join the United Auto Workers union. Like Ultium most of those battery plants are joint ventures with battery makers rather than wholly owned by the automakers themselves. That means the workers at those new plants will not be part of the UAW unless they vote to join. So it’s crucial for the UAW to be able to organize these slew of joint venture battery plants popping up nationwide. While GM (GM) is not the sole owner of the plant, its executives welcomed the union in hopes it helps to maintain labor peace with contract talks looming next fall.

☆ GM battery plant workers vote to unionize with UAW, a key win for labor as industry shifts to EVs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

DETROIT — Workers at a General Motors joint venture battery plant in northeast Ohio overwhelmingly voted in favor of representation with the United Auto Workers, the union said early Friday. The count was 710 votes in support of UAW representation; 16 against; and one was void. "Our entire union welcomes our latest members from Ultium," UAW President Ray Curry said in a release. "As the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles, new workers entering the auto sector at plants like Ultium are thinking about their value and worth. Ultium, in a statement Friday, said it respects "the decision of our Ohio workforce supporting representation by the UAW.

☆ Ohio workers vote to unionize GM, LG battery plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Detroit Three automakers all have battery plants in the works with South Korean partners. The UAW petitioned in October to represent about 900 workers at the Ohio plant after a majority of employees signed cards authorizing the union to represent them. Production began in August at the Ohio plant, the first of at least four planned Ultium U.S. battery factories. GM and LG Energy are considering an Indiana site for a fourth U.S. battery plant. Last week, GM Chief Executive Mary Barra expressed support for unionizing the Ohio plant.

☆ UAW calls on automakers to move supply chain out of Xinjiang region
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Police officers patrol in the old city in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas PeterWASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union called on automakers to shift their entire supply chain out of China's Xinjiang region after a new report on Tuesday suggests that nearly every major automaker has significant exposure to products made with forced labor. "The time is now for the auto industry to establish high-road supply chain models outside the Uyghur Region that protect labor and human rights and the environment," said UAW President Ray Curry. "In some cases, Uyghur forced labor is apparent at multiple steps" of parts manufacturing, mining, refining, pre-fabrication and assembly, it added. Curry called on the U.S. government to "devote the necessary resources to allow Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to effectively identify and ban the importation of products made with forced labor."

☆ GM battery plant workers to vote on union representation in labor test for the EV industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union will for the first time this week attempt to organize a major electric vehicle battery plant for a Detroit automaker, potentially setting a precedent for similar multibillion facilities to come. The UAW's push into the battery plants comes amid a large labor movement that has included U.S. corporations like Amazon and Apple to Starbucks to Chipotle . Joint venture battery facilities are viewed as crucial for the UAW to grow and add members, as automakers such as GM transition to electric vehicles, which require less traditional labor and parts than cars with internal combustion engines. The Ultium plant in Ohio, which started production in August, is the first of at least four U.S. battery facilities for the GM-LG joint venture. Ford Motor , Stellantis and other automakers have announced similar plants, which would each have to be organized separately in addition to other Ultium plants.

☆ UAW president faces run-off election as reformers make gains
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ray Curry will face a run-off election against reform presidential candidate Shawn Fain, a court-appointed monitor said on Monday, after none of the five candidates captured a majority. The run-off election, which will also determine a vice president and regional director race, could see reformers claim a majority of seats on the 14-member UAW executive board. UAW officers previously were elected through a delegate system. For more than three decades, all UAW officers have come from an administrative slate of candidates. Curry has been president of the UAW since June 2021, and a UAW member since 1992.

☆ Biden to meet with Ford CEO, UAW Friday on economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The White House meeting, which will be in-person and virtual, will also include the presidents of the Service Employees International Union and United Food and Commercial Workers union, the official said. Attendees will discuss the economy and meeting participants' perspectives on the economy "and ideas they have to continue bringing inflation down," the official said. The White House has often cited a shortage of semiconductor chips as a key factor in higher prices for cars and trucks and overall inflation. Also attending is White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In May, Biden, in a trip to South Korea, expressed support for workers seeking to unionize joint venture battery plants.

☆ Ford working to build its own parts for electric vehicles to offset job losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

DETROIT – Ford Motor is attempting to build as many of its own parts as possible for its electric vehicles to offset an expected 40% reduction in workers needed to build such cars and trucks, CEO Jim Farley said Tuesday. In addition to making sense for the business, he said retaining the jobs and workforce is another reason Ford wants to build more parts in-house rather than purchasing them from suppliers. Ford is building twin lithium-ion battery plants in central Kentucky through a joint venture with South Korea-based SK Innovation, called BlueOvalSK, as well as a massive 3,600-acre campus in west Tennessee. Farley said the company would be "thrilled" to have union representation at its upcoming battery plants. The comments come as the United Auto Workers union is attempting to organize a joint-venture battery plant between General Motors and LG Energy Solution in Ohio.

☆ Ford must bring more work in-house to preserve jobs - CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Joseph White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ford CEO Jim Farley attends the official launch of the all-new Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S. April 26, 2022. Electric vehicles will require 40% less labor to build than current combustion vehicles, Farley told a conference in Detroit sponsored by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a civil rights group. Bringing production of electric vehicle motors, batteries and other components in-house was necessary to preserve jobs and to be competitive, Farley said. 1 U.S. electric vehicle maker, builds much of the hardware for its electric vehicles, including batteries. Ford has begun building an electric vehicle manufacturing complex in Western Tennessee called Blue Oval City.

CNN Business —About 48,000 academic employees across the University of California system walked off the job Monday morning, demanding higher pay and improved working conditions, according to the union representing them. Striking workers include researchers, graduate student researchers and instructors, trainees, fellows, and others who provide academic support across the University of California’s 10 campuses. The United Auto Workers union represents these academic employee groups who want transportation subsidies and pay that matches housing costs. The UAW, which has been negotiating since Spring 2021, alleges the University of California has taken unlawful actions such as bypassing the bargaining process and making unilateral decisions. The University of California said on its website that it “strongly disagree[s] with the UAW allegations that UC has engaged in unlawful behavior.

[1/3] Academic workers at UC San Diego walk out as thousands of employees at the University of California campuses have gone on strike in an effort to secure improved pay and working conditions in San Diego, California, U.S., November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Mike BlakeSAN DIEGO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Thousands of academic workers went on strike at University of California campuses throughout the state on Monday, forming picket lines, affecting classes and staging noisy protests to demand better wages for teaching assistants and others. Some 48,000 academic workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) are in contract talks with the University of California system, but it was uncertain how many went on strike at the 10 UC campuses. The University of California said it is offering wage increases of up to 7.5% for postdoctoral scholars, 7% for academic student employees, 10% for graduate student researchers, and 4% for academic researchers. Reporting by Mike Blake in San Diego and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif.; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UAW seeks election to represent GM battery joint venture workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstOct 31 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers on Monday said it was seeking an election to represent workers at a General Motors (GM.N)/LG Energy (373220.KS) battery cell manufacturing joint venture in Ohio after the companies refused to recognize the union. In August, the Warren, Ohio Ultium plant began production, the first of least four planned U.S. battery factories by the joint venture. In May, President Joe Biden, in a trip to South Korea, expressed support for workers seeking to unionize joint venture battery plants. "For every joint venture that manufactures electric vehicle batteries would be made stronger by collective bargaining relationships with American unions," Biden said. GM and LG Energy are considering an Indiana site for a fourth U.S. battery plant expected to cost about $2.5 billion.

☆ UAW Files for Federal Permission to Set Election at Ohio Battery Plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Mike Colias | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

General Motors co-owns a battery plant in northeast Ohio where the United Auto Workers is looking to hold an election. The United Auto Workers is seeking federal permission to hold an election at a new battery plant in Ohio co-owned by General Motors Co., claiming the factory’s owner has resisted workers’ efforts to unionize. The UAW said Monday that a majority of the facility’s 900 workers have signed cards requesting that the union represent them at the factory, which is owned by Ultium Cells LLC , a 50-50 joint venture between GM and Korean battery supplier LG Energy Solution . The northeast Ohio facility opened in late August.

They also give union members cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and bonuses will give union members an average payment of $11,000 per worker once the deal is ratified. After BMWED rejected their tentative deal, union leadership proposed adding paid sick days during a bargaining session, only to have management reject the motion out of hand. Congress can also prevent or end a strike by extending a cooling-off period or imposing a contract on union members. Union members working in other industries have recently balked at approving deals, even when recommended by their leadership.

☆ UAW wants U.S. to bar loans, subsidies for Hyundai over workplace issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 21 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Friday called on the Biden administration not to award any subsidies, loans or other taxpayer support until Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) agrees to address workplace issues. A Reuters investigative report in July documented children, including a 12-year-old, working at a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in rural Luverne, Alabama, called SMART Alabama, LLC. The union called on Hyundai to instead "improve working conditions for the U.S. workers who make Hyundai vehicles." Hyundai is lobbying the Biden administration to revise a law approved in August that immediately barred electric vehicles outside North America from receiving $7,500 consumer tax credits. The UAW has previously sparred with Hyundai and unsuccessfully sought to organize workers at its Alabama plant and at other foreign-owned auto plants.

☆ How one GM auto plant's UAW union workforce is learning to make EVs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Orion plant, in operation since 1983, was beginning to transition from making a variety of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs. "We started slowly introducing the Bolt on the assembly line," he said, a process that can take up to a year while working out the bugs. There's specialized training required for all the assembly workers on how to deal with those potentially dangerous connections in a safe manner, he said. In essence, "it takes more of an electrician than it does a mechanic" to assemble an EV, Brown said.. The recently upgraded center houses manufacturing laboratory facilities that simulate steps along the assembly line, including robotics and sheet metal fabrication.

Things will remain status quo with the union’s contract until then. The engineers and conductors union votes are cause for “apprehension on all sides,” said the source. Online chatter among the conductors union and engineers union members signal they want a strike before even seeing the contract, while some are calling for reason, the source said. Conductors union and engineers union members will be mailed ballots at the end of this month with a 21-day voting period. Although most union contracts are ratified, there have been some very high-profile examples of angry union members voting no.

read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterLast month, the first General Motors and LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) joint venture Ultium battery plant began production in Lordstown, Ohio. GM previously expressed support for efforts by the UAW to organize Ultium's battery plants, but did not endorse "card check. In May, President Joe Biden, in a trip to South Korea, expressed support for workers seeking to unionize joint venture battery plants. Detroit's Big Three automakers all have battery plants in the works with Korean partners. Last month, GM and LG Energy said they were considering a site in New Carlisle, Indiana, for a fourth U.S. battery plant.

☆ Next up for US unions: Major contracts for 700,000 workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In terms of big US labor contracts, however, this is just the opening act. And as with the rail unions, members are focused on staffing shortages and scheduling problems that they say have brought many employees to a breaking point. And soon after the Teamsters contract for UPS ground workers expires, contracts for UPS pilots and aircraft mechanics become amendable. That’s a major concern for unions whose members build engines and transmissions. But that settlement did not address the looming question of what a switch to EVs will mean for union workers going forward.

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