Nearly two years after its workers voted to establish one of the first unions at an auto factory in the South, employees at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have approved their first contract.
The United Auto Workers union announced Thursday that 96% of workers at the Chattanooga plant voted in favor of the deal, which was hashed out over months of often slow-moving talks between the union and the German automaker. It reportedly includes immediate bonuses of more than $6,500, a 20% wage increase over the life of the four-year contract, job security benefits, and cuts of at least 20% in health care premiums.
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The ratification of the deal culminates years of efforts to organize workers at Volkswagen’s lone U.S. factory. Votes fell short in 2014 and 2019 before finally, amid a broader push to organize auto workers across the South, its employees voted in favor of a union in the spring of 2024.
Although that unionization push stalled after a failed vote at a Mercedes plant in Alabama the following month, the UAW contended that the new VW deal — and its pay hikes — could spark renewed energy for the effort both in the region’s auto industry and its broader manufacturing workforce.
Volkswagen responded in a statement that the contract reflected a “shared commitment to competitive wages, strong benefits, and the long‑term success of our employees and operations.”
The Chattanooga plant, which began production in the spring of 2011, currently makes the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs, as well as the electric ID.4. The factory employs an estimated 5,500 workers.
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