Tennessee Volkswagen workers prove UAW right with historic union vote just before May Day

In an historic moment for working people in the South, several thousand Volkswagen workers recently voted to unite in a union with the United Auto Workers.

The Chattanooga victory comes despite harsh corporate campaigns and the efforts of six Southern governors to crush and intimidate the workers.

Previous tries to unionize failed, but something different happened this time.

Not least of what happened is the Big Three strike last year in which 46,000 auto workers shut down plants, seeking pay raises, better working conditions, and limits on a two-tiered wage system that divides workers to drives down wages.

Workers won at least 25% pay hikes , with some temporary workers nearly doubling their pay. And they won union protections for workers in the emerging electric vehicle sector.

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Workers did not take the bait from Big Three executives

Big Three workers were fed up with being told to accept “good enough” while profits reached a quarter of a trillion dollars in the last decade and CEO pay for a week rivals what worker pay is for an entire year. In all, the strike victory will transfer billions in profits into the pockets of its workers , while those corporations are expected to remain very profitable.

When Big Three executives told UAW workers their demands could make them uncompetitive with automakers in the traditionally anti-union South, they did not take the bait.

Instead of pitting workforce against workforce, Big Three workers and their leader, Shawn Fain, reached out to those workers, calling on them to be future UAW members, not competition. Volkswagen workers proved their strategy right.

They too are frustrated with executive pay – topping $10 million a year – while they work for significantly less than UAW members, have far fewer benefits, and struggle to manage time off work to care for their families.

Working people are on the cusp of a unique opportunity as union workers are winning, clawing back a fair share of a generation of profits that they were denied. That is true not only in the auto industry and in the South, but in service industries as well, and large majorities of Americans are on their side.

Workers should have a chance at the American Dream too

Gallup polling shows an historic level of support for unions, with more than two-thirds of those surveyed expressing approval and a majority believing stronger unions are good for the country. Support is even stronger among younger people, with 88% of those younger than 30 approving of unions.

Corporations compete against each other, as they should, but their workforces should not be manipulated into being warriors on the corporate team to drive down living standards.

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By uniting across industries, workers can take labor costs out of competition allowing business to thrive on innovation and quality, not a chipping away of the middle class. That raises living standards for all workers. That is the American Dream, and Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have proven the dream is not dead, that it lives on.

Efforts to unionize thousands of other auto workers across the South are underway, including soon among Mercedes Benz workers in Alabama.

It is fitting timing for the victory on April 19, just days before May Day. While marked virtually around the globe as a day to stand up for workers’ rights, May Day is uniquely American, stemming from a massive strike to win the eight-hour workday 138 years ago in Chicago. It was the same year financier Jay Gould notoriously said, “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” Their victory seemed unattainable in the context of the times.

Time will tell if victory in Chattanooga is the beginning of an historic wave, but there is no doubt it is an historic moment.

Kelcey Smith , a Volkswagen worker who voted for the union, sees it this way: “People in high places told us good things can’t happen here in Chattanooga. They told us this isn’t the time to stand up, this isn’t the place. But we did stand up and we won. This is the time; this is the place.”

Brian J. Hale, a Tennessee native, is president and CEO of Ullico, the only union-owned investment and insurance company in the U.S.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Volkswagen workers prove UAW right with historic union vote just before May Day