Labor News & Commentary February 9, 2024 the majority of VW Chattanooga employees sign union authorization cards

https://onlabor.org/february-9-2024/

By Holt McKeithan

Holt McKeithan is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s labor news: the majority of VW Chattanooga employees sign union authorization cards, a general strike in Argentina pressures the government, and the Labor Department issues fines for child labor law violations.

The UAW announced that over half of the employees at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant have signed union authorization cards. The milestone comes only two months after Volkswagen employees launched a unionizing campaign. Chattanooga is home to the German automaker’s only assembly plant based in the United States. In 2014, the plant voted against a union, 712-626.

The campaign is part of a broader effort to unionize automakers in the south. Following the success of contract negotiations with Big Three automakers, the UAW launched a public campaign to organize the entire nonunion auto sector in the United States in November. Workers at Mercedes in Vance, Alabama and Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama have announced public campaigns to join the UAW. Both campaigns have crossed the 30% authorization card threshold.

Argentina president Javier Milei’s libertarian party withdrew an austerity bill from the floor of Argentina’s lower house. This action followed a general strike of millions of workers who protested the bill. The self-described “anarcho-capitalist” president proposed a bill to enact massive deregulation, privatization, layoffs and labor reforms. Over 1.5 million workers walked off the job in protest on January 25. Walkouts and protests have continued since.

FULL story at link.