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Volkswagen Chattanooga vote could set UAW’s future

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / A group gathers outside of Volkswagen Chattanooga with signs in December. UAW President Shawn Fain visited outside the plant with union supporters and community and faith leaders.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / A group gathers outside of Volkswagen Chattanooga with signs in December. UAW President Shawn Fain visited outside the plant with union supporters and community and faith leaders. Staff photo by Olivia Ross / A group gathers outside of Volkswagen Chattanooga with signs in December. UAW President Shawn Fain visited outside the plant with union supporters and community and faith leaders.

By Mike Pare 6 min read

With United Auto Workers membership sliding to its lowest point in nearly 15 years in 2023, Volkswagen Chattanooga may hold the keys to helping drive the union’s future, observers said.

“It has become a must-do for them,” said Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Competitive Research Institute. “They want a redemption story — ‘This time we finally broke through.'”

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University, said the momentum for the union is “way stronger” now given the UAW’s recent contract negotiations with the Big Three Detroit automakers.

“I hope it gives other automakers in the South an opportunity to choose yes or no,” he said.

UAW membership fell 3.3% in 2023 to 370,000, its lowest point since 2009, according to the U.S. Labor Department.