In the midst of a deep affordability crisis — as an uptick in the costs of goods and services strains the finances of working families — the need for a more equitable economy is as urgent as ever. Thankfully, Chattanooga is starting to see how to best make this a reality: unionization.
Following the lead of workers who successfully unionized Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant in 2024, employees at Schnellecke Logistics, a handling provider for VW, voted to organize with the United Auto Workers, or UAW, by a 2-to-1 margin last week.
With this vote, both Volkswagen and Schellecke workers have now joined UAW’s Region 8, which covers Tennessee and 16 other states. Tim Smith, the region’s director, told this paper that unionization in Chattanooga is only just beginning.
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“There’s a lot of others down there inspired by that first contract with Volkswagen,” Smith said. “I promise you, there’s a lot more. We get a lot of calls, and we’re going to organize a lot more plants in Chattanooga.”