Construction of the battery plant in Glendale. Kentucky in January 2023. (Photo: BlueOval SK photo)
Workers at a Kentucky BlueOval SK Battery Park filed for an election to join the United Auto Workers union Tuesday, marking the new year’s first major union election petition filed in the South —and one that could foretell future union activity in Tennessee.
The electric vehicle manufacturing plant is part of a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and SK On, spanning two facilities in Kentucky and a battery manufacturing facility at the new BlueOval City campus under construction in West Tennessee.
Workers at the BlueOval SK plant in Glendale, Kentucky announced their unionization campaign in November. Following Tuesday’s election petition filing with the National Labor Relations Board, a date will be set for a secret-ballot election. If a majority of workers vote in favor of the union, the next step is negotiating a contract.
BlueOval SK issued a statement in response, saying that most of the employees who will ultimately work at the plant have not yet been hired.
“They, too, deserve to have their voices heard,” the company stated. “And none of our Team Members have had the opportunity to see how our plant will operate since we have not yet begun production. The UAW is trying to rush BlueOval SK into unionization before our full workforce has the opportunity to make a truly free and informed choice.”
United Auto Workers, which represents employees from Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, bargained unsuccessfully for automatic union representation for the Kentucky and Tennessee BlueOval SK plants during contract negotiations in 2023.
“We’re forming our union so we can have a say in our safety and our working conditions,” Halee Hadfield, a quality operator at BlueOval SK, said in a UAW news release. “The chemicals we’re working with can be extremely dangerous. If something goes wrong, a massive explosion can occur. With our union, we can speak up if we see there’s a problem and make sure we’re keeping ourselves and the whole community safe.”
BlueOval SK stated that the company prioritizes safety, offers “competitive wages and regular bonuses” and promotion opportunities.
Tuesday’s filing comes on the heels of notable Southern union victories in 2024, including the unionization of workers at the Ultium plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee and workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga facility.
“The movement led by BOSK and Ultium workers is setting strong standards for the rapidly expanding EV battery industry,” UAW stated in a news release.
United Auto Workers successfully unionizes Tennessee battery plant
The Kentucky facility is expected to begin manufacturing batteries for Ford’s E-Transit and F-150 Lighting mid-year. BlueOval SK at BlueOval City in Tennessee will begin producing cells in late 2025 for the automaker’s new electric commercial van, according to an August 2024 announcement from Ford.
After the BlueOval City campus was announced in 2021, then-UAW president Ray Curry announced that he intended the facility to be a union shop. Current president Shawn Fain echoed those intentions in 2023.
In Tennessee, state leaders have largely held off on making a strong stand against UAW organizing at the Haywood County BlueOval City facility.
But some lawmakers have opposed other organizing efforts. Tennessee is a “right-to-work” state, which allows employees to opt out of paying union dues. Gov. Bill Lee and a handful of Republican state senators and representatives urged Volkswagen workers to vote against joining UAW in April 2024, warning it could stop the auto manufacturing industry’s Southern growth “in its tracks.”
When the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant workers voted 2,628-985 in favor of the union in a move heralded by Democratic state Rep. Yusuf Hakeem of Chattanooga as a message to state leadership about their constituents’ interests, Lee said he thought the move was a mistake, “but that’s their choice.”
Sam Stockard and Adam Friedman contributed.
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