Nearly one month ago, a supermajority of workers at the future joint-venture Ford and SK On EV battery plant known as BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky signed authorization cards and subsequently launched their campaign to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. At that time, the UAW noted that if those workers ultimately do organize, it would result in higher wages, and earlier this week, BlueOval SK did in fact announce that it would be raising wages. Now, Ford’s EV rival, Rivian, has reportedly signed a deal with the UAW as well.
According to Bloomberg, Rivian and the UAW reportedly signed a “secret” pact with some interesting terms – the automaker will adopt a “neutral” stance on efforts to organize workers at its production plant in Illinois. However, that stance will only take effect once Rivian reaches certain milestones such as profitability metrics, according to sources familiar with the matter.
While Rivian has yet to post a quarterly adjusted profit since it began operations, the UAW has also thus far struggled to organize EV plants across the U.S., so this deal does make some sense on the surface. In the event that Rivian does meet these predetermined metrics, such a deal could also prevent bad press that has plagued other automakers that have worked to stop workers from organizing in recent months, even engaging in “union-busting” activities that are, in many cases, illegal.
“When there are neutrality agreements, workers are much more likely to choose union representation because workers feel safer in making the decision,’’ said Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School, who served in Biden’s White House. “Neutrality just communicates to the employees ‘make the decision you want to make, and we’re going to abide by the law.’”
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