The union alleges that all three automakers have violated the rights of workers at U.S. production facilities
December 11, 2023 at 19:36
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The United Auto Workers (UAW) filed unfair labor practice charges on Monday against Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Honda, alleging that these three automakers are employing illegal tactics to hinder workers from organizing and joining the UAW. Who wins is still up for debate but the allegations sound damning.
After the union’s decisive victory against the big three earlier this year, it says that a number of non-union workers from other automakers reached out. They began to sign union cards, to organize at their various plants, and evidently to experience backlash too. Just last week the UAW announced that over 1,000 workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, TN plant signed up for the union.
Now, it’s alleged that workers at VW as well as at Hyundai and Honda are facing illegal opposition to non-union workers’ efforts to unionize. “We are filing an unfair labor practice charge against Honda because of management illegally telling us to remove union stickers from our hats, and for basically threatening us with write-ups,” says Honda worker Josh Cupit in a video embedded below.
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Allegations of surveillance, harassment and threats
The UAW says that hundreds of Honda employees have already signed union cards despite the fact that the brand is targeting and surveilling them. It says that it has hundreds more non-union employees signed up at Hyundai. There, it believes that management has “unlawfully confiscated, destroyed, and prohibited pro-union materials in non-work areas during non-work times.”
Volkswagen is facing similar allegations, including that “Management has harassed and threatened workers for talking about the union; confiscated and destroyed pro-union materials in the break room; attempted to intimidate and illegally silence pro-union workers; and has attempted to illegally prohibit workers from distributing union literature and discussing union issues in non-work areas on non-work time.”
“These companies are violating the law in an attempt to compel autoworkers to remain silent instead of advocating for their fair share,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.
Workers from Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Nissan, Hyundai, Rivian, Lucid, Mazda, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, VW, and Tesla all have an open invitation. Fain specifically called out each of those automakers in his remarks on Monday. It’s clear that the UAW wants to bring workers from each of those automakers into the fold and these new charges demonstrate the union’s willingness to fight back against union-busting efforts.
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