Workers at Kentucky electric vehicle battery production complex start drive to unionize
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Workers hired for a sprawling electric vehicle battery manufacturing complex in Kentucky have launched a campaign to join the United Auto Workers as the union seeks to expand its footprint in the South and among battery factories, the UAW said Wednesday .
The BlueOval SK complex in Glendale is a joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and its South Korean partner SK On, to produce batteries for Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. The nearly $6 billion battery farm — about an hour south of Louisville — is gearing up to begin production in 2025.
The union said a large majority of workers at BlueOval SK have signed union authorization cards to launch the public campaign to join the UAW.
The union will have to call an election by the National Labor Relations Board to organize workers at the two-plant complex in Kentucky. So far, the country has not filed any papers requesting elections.
Production at one of the factories will start next year. Construction continues on the second factory, but a production start date has been put on hold as Ford monitors demand for electric vehicles.
In a statement on its website, the union said it believes companies like Blue Oval SK “can do a better job of providing career-oriented, family-sustaining jobs that strengthen our community.”
Asked for comment on the union efforts, BlueOval SK human resources director Neva Burke said in a statement: “We want to maintain a direct relationship with our employees.”
The UAW said workers at Blue Oval SK, who are now non-union, have weaker benefits than union workers at Ford. At Blue Oval, workers start at $21 an hour, while UAW production workers at Ford start at $26.32 and can earn up to $42 an hour after three years, the union said.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has called the project a “game changer” for the state.
“We know electric cars are the future,” Beshear said recently. “We don’t know how soon they will be here, but the future is built in Kentucky, and we will be a very big part of that.”
The UAW is hoping for a repeat of its successes in neighboring states.
Workers at an electric vehicle battery operated by a General Motors joint venture factory in Spring Hill, Tennesseehas become a member of the union. Employees at a Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also voted to unionize. In Ohio, workers at another GM joint venture electric vehicle battery plant voted to join the UAW.
But the lost union an organizing vote in May at two Mercedes plants in Alabama.
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Krisher reported from Detroit.