UAW Allocates $40 Million Toward Organizing EV Plants

February 22, 2024 11:49 am

During the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against Ford last year, one of the main points of contention revolved around future all-electric vehicle and battery plants, which the union has long sought to organize, even before construction ends and hiring begins. In fact, negotiations got pretty heated when Ford announced that it was pausing construction at the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan plant due to the costs involved, news that came as it was jockeying for position in those talks. Meanwhile, General Motors announced that it would be supporting the efforts of the UAW to unionize workers at its joint venture battery plants, while Ford has stated that it plans to let workers decide and vote on the matter. Now, the UAW is moving forward with its own plans as it has allocated $40 million toward that specific purpose.

This $40 million dollar allocation is designed to last between now and 2026, all with the intentions of working to help employees of non-unionized EV plants organize. The UAW International Executive Board voted in favor of using those funds for that particular purpose, which is notable given the fact that over the next several years, those types of plants are expected to add tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. – or, in some cases, replace or supplement existing jobs.

This news comes on the heels of efforts by the UAW to organize non-unionized plants in the U.S. that are operated by automakers outside of the Detroit Big Three, such as Honda, Hyundai, Tesla, and Toyota. While it has obtained a considerable amount of signatures from workers at those plants as of late, the union has thus far failed to gain much traction – partially due to right to work laws in certain states that make it optional for workers to pay union dues.

Regardless, the recent strike and a costly new master contract with the UAW have reportedly changed the way that Ford is thinking about its future production plans, as CEO Jim Farley recently revealed. That process apparently prompted the automaker to “think carefully” about where it will build vehicles in the future, according to Farley, in fact.

We’ll have more on the UAW soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford-UAW news, UAW news, and 24/7 Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.