UAW kicks off unionization effort at massive $5.8 billion EV battery plant in Kentucky
One of the country’s most influential labor unions has announced plans to unionize employees at the massive $5.8 billion electric vehicle battery plant campus in Hardin County.
United Auto Workers announced Wednesday its plans to unionize the expected 6,000-job BlueOval SK site, a joint venture between South Korean company SK On and Ford Motor Co. Their plans were included in a press statement and video released Wednesday.
The effort came after a supermajority of workers at the plant signed union cards to launch the campaign.
The workers quoted in the video cited low pay, safety concerns and the desire to be treated the same as other auto workers as the primary reasons for unionization.
“Just like Ford workers, we are standing up for good, safe, union jobs,” one worker said in the video.
The UAW’s news release notes the effort is an attempt to build on recent successful unionization efforts at factories in Ohio and Tennessee.
“Because (BlueOval) is currently a nonunion facility, workers there have pay, benefit and safety standards much weaker than those of UAW members at Ford. Starting pay for a (BlueOval) production worker is just $21 an hour. UAW production workers at Ford start at $26.32, and after three years will make over $42 an hour,” the release notes.
In a collection of testimonies from workers at the campus — which is on schedule to begin production soon at the first of two twin plants with the second on pause for the time being — one said the company took away a certain level of insurance coverage after she began her employment.
Another said that he wanted to work at a place where workers had some amount of power vis a vis management.
“I’ve worked at a lot of places where we had no choice but to listen to what management says. I have never worked at a company where workers had a union before, but the more I learn about it, I find it actually gives us power so that we don’t get run over. With a binding contract HR would not be allowed to ignore us. The union would also help my family through better benefits and pay,” said Austin Shissler, a “Maintenance-Formation” worker.
The move came a few months after it was initially announced that workers at the plant would not unionize due to a deal hatched between Ford and the UAW.
“We respect those agreements and their negotiations,” Gov. Andy Beshear said at the time on an episode of Face the Nation in August. “We are excited about how the union and the company were able to come together to reach an agreement that works for everybody.”
Now, a Beshear spokesperson said that the fate of the plant’s union status will be up to the workers.
“Gov. Beshear is a pro-union governor,” Beshear spokeswoman Crystal Staley said in a statement. “These jobs were to start as non-union, but the ultimate decision will rest with the employees.”
The status of the industry is, at this juncture, uncertain. Various incentives and regulations set forth under the current administration of President Joe Biden spurred growth in the electric battery sector even as consumer demand was cooler than expected.
Republican President-Elect Donald Trump is expected to do away with many of those programs, leaving many in the sector in Kentucky uncertain about its future.
Due to a law passed shortly after Republicans took control of the state legislature, Kentucky is a “right to work” state, meaning that employees cannot be forced to join a union or pay union dues.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 3:38 PM.