By Nora Eckert
DETROIT (Reuters) – An auto workers union is petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election at a Ford Motor (NYSE: ) joint venture battery plant in Kentucky, the union said on Wednesday.
The BlueOval SK plant, owned by a partnership of South Korea’s SK On and Ford, is the latest battery battleground for the union as it seeks to boost its dwindling membership and secure jobs as the industry electrifies.
UAW President Shawn Fain sought to expand on last year’s historic victory at the Volkswagen (ETR: ) plant in Tennessee. The labor group has not won a significant vote since, suffering a defeat at the Mercedes plant in Alabama in May.
The UAW invested $40 million last year to organize non-union automakers across the United States, which included companies such as Tesla (NASDAQ: ) and Toyota (NYSE:).
Battery plants partially owned by the Detroit automaker have been a major point of contention during a six-week union strike against Ford, General Motors (NYSE: ) and Jeep maker Stellantis (NYSE: ) at the end of 2023.
The union previously scored victories with Ultium Cells, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solutions at facilities in Ohio and Tennessee. In June 2024, the union reached a tentative agreement at GM’s battery plant in Ohio, and in September, GM agreed to recognize a union at its Ultium plant in Tennessee.
Companies can agree to voluntarily recognize workers after a majority sign cards supporting unionization, which is what happened at the Ultium facility in Tennessee. In cases where the company does not agree, there are elections, overseen by the NLRB, where workers must vote by majority to unionize.
A union can petition for such an election after collecting signatures from 30% of workers, according to the NLRB. The UAW said in November that the “vast majority” of workers at the Kentucky plant had signed cards expressing their support for unionization, without specifying the percentage.
The date of the election has not yet been set, but usually several weeks pass between the application for the election and the holding of the election.
While the union has received support from President Joe Biden, including a personal endorsement at one of the protests during the strike, Fain and President-elect Donald Trump have a more contentious relationship. The president-to-be said the union leader should be fired, and Fain said before the election that if Trump won, it would be “a total disaster for the working class.”
