UAW board OKs $40M to organize nonunion plants, battery workers

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2024/02/21/uaw-spending-millions-organizing-southern-nonunion-auto-plants/72687415007/

Feb. 21, 2024

Eric D. Lawrence Detroit Free Press

The UAW says it will spend $40 million in new funds to support the organizing of workers in nonunion auto plants and battery facilities, "particularly in the South," through 2026.

The United Auto Workers union, in a news release Wednesday, said its top decision-making body, the International Executive Board, voted Tuesday "to commit the funds in response to an explosion in organizing activity among nonunion auto and battery workers, in order to meet the moment and grow the labor movement."

UAW spokesman Jonah Furman said the board vote was unanimous, and the figure represents $40 million that has yet to be spent. It wasn't immediately clear what the union normally outlays on this type of organizing or how much has been spent in recent months. The board is made up of 14 members, including the union's president, secretary-treasurer, three vice presidents and regional directors.

The union made a splash following last year's Detroit Three bargaining when it announced a major push to organize more than a dozen nonunion auto companies in the United States. The UAW said more than 10,000 autoworkers have signed union cards, including a majority at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Public campaigns have also been announced at Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama, and Mercedes-Benz near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

FULL story at link above.