Production at the brand new BlueOval SK Battery Park site in Kentucky – a joint-venture between Ford Motor Company and South Korean battery maker SK On – just kicked off earlier this month. However, workers at the plant have been working to unionize and join the United Auto Workers (UAW) since last year, when a supermajority of employees signed authorization cards to hold a vote. After a bit of back and forth, that process took place this week, and the UAW has now announced the results.
“Tonight, BlueOval SK workers won a majority of votes in an NLRB election to unionize their plant in Glendale, Kentucky, securing a hard-fought victory. This is a major step forward for workers who stood up against intense company opposition and chose to join the UAW,” the union said in a statement.”
“There are 41 challenge ballots still outstanding. We believe they are illegitimate and represent nothing more than an employer tactic to flood the unit and undermine the outcome. We will fight these challenges to defend the democratic choices of these workers, as we always do when corporations try to interfere with workers’ democratic choice. The challenged ballots are not part of the group of workers who built their union from the bottom up. They deserve to have their own union, in an appropriate bargaining unit with a representative of their own choosing.”
“The UAW is calling on Ford to acknowledge the democratic decision of its workforce. They should immediately drop their anti-democratic effort to undermine the outcome of the election and recognize a majority of BlueOval SK’s production and maintenance employees have chosen to join the UAW and ensure battery jobs in Kentucky are good, safe, union jobs.”
Workers at the BlueOval SK Battery Park site have long complained of various safety issues at the plant, while the UAW has also accused the joint-venture of engaging in “union-busting” activities, though the latter has denied such practices. Meanwhile, the very first EV battery just rolled off the line there – destined for a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup – and will soon be joined by batteries for the E-Transit, too.
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