Biden celebrates Tennessee Volkswagen plant's vote to join UAW

US President Joe Biden at the United Auto Workers (UAW) conference in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers,” Biden said Friday in a statement.

The accolades come after factory workers at the Chattanooga, Tenn., Volkswagen plant voted Friday evening to join the UAW, in a decision that could signal even further momentum in organized labor following a year of high-profile strikes and major contractual wins for workers.

“I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen,” the White House statement said.

Biden became the first sitting president in U.S. history to join the picket line on behalf of UAW workers during a UAW strike last year involving the “Big Three” Detroit automakers — Ford, General Motors (GM) and Jeep-maker Stellantis.

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https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4608235-biden-celebrates-tennessee-volkswagen-plant-vote-join-uaw/



Statement from President Joe Biden on UAW Vote in Tennessee

Congratulations to the workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their historic vote for union representation with the United Auto Workers. I was proud to stand alongside auto workers in their successful fight for record contracts, and I am proud to stand with auto workers now as they successfully organize at Volkswagen. Across the country, union members have logged major wins and large raises, including auto workers, actors, port workers, Teamsters, writers, warehouse and health care workers, and more. Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.

Six Republican governors wrote a letter attempting to influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would jeopardize jobs in their states. Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose. In fact, the growing strength of unions over the last year has gone hand-in-hand with record small business and jobs growth alongside the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years. I will continue to stand with American workers and stand against Republican’s effort to weaken workers’ voice.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/19/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-uaw-vote-in-tennessee/