By Nora Eckert
DETROIT (Reuters) – Most workers at a joint Ford Motor (NYSE ) battery plant in Kentucky have signed cards indicating their support for the United Auto Workers, the union said on Wednesday.
The BlueOval SK plant is owned by a partnership between SK On and Ford of South Korea, and is the latest EV-related battleground for the union as it seeks to increase its membership.
Earlier this year, the UAW invested $40 million to organize non-union automakers across the United States, an initiative that included companies like Tesla (NASDAQ:) and toyota (NYSE:).
The UAW said a “vast majority” of workers at Ford's Kentucky battery plant had signed union cards indicating their support. He did not specify the percentage.
“We want to maintain a direct relationship with our employees,” BlueOval SK Chief Human Resources Officer Neva Burke said in a statement. Ford directed Reuters to BlueOval SK for comment.
Battery plants owned by Ford and General Motors (NYSE:) have been in the crosshairs of UAW President Shawn Fain since he led a six-week strike against the Detroit Three last fall, demanding that workers at plants related to electric vehicles are members of the union, in addition to those in existing gasoline engine plants.
At the time, Ford CEO Jim Farley said Fain was “holding the deal hostage to the battery plants.”
Fain has said that unionizing these battery and electric vehicle manufacturing centers will be critical to the UAW's future success, especially as its ranks dwindle.
The union previously scored victories with Ultium Cells, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution at plants in Ohio and Tennessee. In June, the union reached a tentative contract at a GM battery plant in Ohio, and in September, GM agreed to recognize the union at an Ultium plant in Tennessee.
If the process continues at Ford's battery center in Kentucky, workers will hold a formal vote on whether to join the union.
A UAW victory would mean the starting wage for workers will rise from $21 an hour to $26.32, the union said, with the potential to earn more than $42 an hour after three years, under the current contract with Ford.
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