Biden celebrates Tennessee Volkswagen plant’s vote to join UAW

President Biden on Friday celebrated a “historic vote” by workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee to join the United Auto Workers union (UAW).

“We celebrate the historic vote of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on behalf of the United Auto Workers union,” Biden said Friday. statement.

The award was announced Friday night after factory workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the UAW, a decision that comes after a year of high-profile strikes and workers’ It could signal further momentum for organized labor after a major contract win.

The White House said in a statement: “We are proud of autoworkers’ success in fighting for a record contract and are proud of the current success autoworkers are having organizing at Volkswagen. I’m proud.”

Biden became the first person in U.S. history to join the picket line on behalf of UAW workers during last year’s UAW strike, which involved the “big three” Detroit automakers Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis. He became the current president.

Biden, who won the UAW’s support for re-election in January, has called himself “the most pro-union president in American history.”

The results were announced just two days after the governors of six southern states, including Tennessee, issued a letter expressing opposition to the union vote. The governors of Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama argued that the push posed a threat to “jobs” and “values.”

“As governors, we have a responsibility to speak out to our constituents when we see special interests infiltrating our state and threatening our jobs and the values ​​we live by.” the group wrote.

In a statement Friday, Biden denounced the letter as an attempt to “influence workers’ votes by falsely claiming that a successful vote would threaten jobs in states.”

“I want to be clear with the Republican governors who tried to undermine this vote,” the president added. “American workers have nothing to fear from exercising their voice and their legal right to form a union if they choose.”

With Friday’s vote, workers at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant became “the first Southern autoworkers outside the Big Three to win a union,” the UAW exulted in a press release announcing the vote.

The UAW also Social media platform Congratulating the successful vote, he posted: “Volkswagen workers just made history!” #StandUpUAW. ”