© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Signs outside a Volkswagen plant during a vote among local workers on whether or not to be represented by the United Auto Workers union in Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S., June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Carey /File Photo
By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -The United Auto Workers union said on Monday it filed unfair labor practice charges against sling (NYSE:) Motor, Hyundai Motor (OTC:) and Volkswagen (ETR:) citing aggressive anti-union campaigns to discourage workers from organizing.
The union's filings with the National Labor Relations Board and a video speech Monday night by UAW President Shawn Fain are the union's latest steps to draw attention to its effort to organize workers at Tesla ( NASDAQ:) and in foreign-owned US auto plants.
In his video speech, Fain acknowledged the challenges the UAW's organizing efforts face from employers who have successfully resisted the union for decades. The UAW wants to see support from 70% of a plant's workforce before pushing for a union vote, Fain said.
Fain said he met last week with workers from toyota Motor Assembly Plant (NYSE:) in Georgetown, Ky. The UAW president said no company is the union's first priority. “They are all the target,” he said.
“We will use every tool at our disposal” to overcome the company's opposition to unionization efforts, Fain said.
The UAW said last month it was launching a first-of-its-kind initiative to publicly organize the entire non-union auto sector in the United States after winning record new contracts with the Detroit Three Automakers.
Last week, the UAW said more than 1,000 workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant have signed union authorization cards, or more than 30% of the workers.
The UAW filed charges over shares of Honda in Indiana, Hyundai in Alabama and Volkswagen in Tennessee.
A Honda worker said management illegally ordered workers to remove union stickers from their hats, the UAW said. Hyundai illegally surveyed employees about their support for the UAW and confiscated union materials and prohibited their distribution in non-work areas, the union charged.
Honda said in a statement that it “encourages our associates to participate and obtain information on this issue. We have not and will not interfere with our associates' right to participate in activities that support or oppose the UAW.”
The UAW said VW threatened and coerced employees “from exercising their rights to engage in protected activities by prohibiting employees from discussing unionization during work time and restricting employees from distributing union materials.”
Volkswagen said Monday that it “respects our workers' right to determine who should represent their interests in the workplace…We take complaints like this very seriously and will investigate accordingly.”
The Detroit-based UAW said last month that workers at 13 non-union automakers were announcing simultaneous campaigns across the country to join the union, including Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai, Rivian (NASDAQ: , Nissan (OTC and BMW. (ETR:) and Mercedes-Benz (OTC:).
The UAW agreements with General Motors (NYSE ), Ford Motor (NYSE and Stellantis (NYSE ) included an immediate 11% wage increase and a 25% increase in base salaries through 2028, reducing the time needed to reach the maximum salary in three years from eight years. In response, many foreign automakers have recently increased salaries and benefits.
