Chanee Baker installs a tunnel shield to the chassis of a Volkswagen Passat on the production line.The automotive supplier Faurecia Interior Systems Inc. has agreed to recognize the United Auto Workers union at its plant in Louisville, Ky.
A majority vote by the 172 workers at the plant signed cards in favor of the union, the UAW said in a statement Friday. The company decision to recognize the UAW through the card check process without an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board was praised by UAW Region 8 Director Gary Casteel.
"Faurecia also deserves recognition for agreeing to use the majority recognition process, forgoing the approach of anti-union employers who force their employees into a divisive, disruptive and outdated election process," Casteel said in a statement.
The Louisville plant opened in 2011 and produces the interiors for vehicles manufactured at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant and the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kan.
In July 2012, workers at another Faurecia plant in Cottondale, Ala., voted 2 to 1 to join the UAW. But workers at another Faurecia plant in Alabama turned down UAW representation in an election in August.
"We have worked for many years with various unions where our employees choose to be represented, as well as with employees who choose not to be represented," said Stacie Tong, a Faurecia spokeswoman.
UAW is pushing for similar card-check recognition at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, where the union also claims that a majority of workers have signed cards in favor on union representation.
"Workers everywhere, but especially in Southern auto plants, are showing a strong interest in democracy in the workplace and they know the decision to join a union is the right step," Casteel said.