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The United Auto Workers union won a critical vote at a plant in Tenessee.
After a massive strike last year, the union set out to organize more factories that aren't represented, including Tesla.
The union's white whale is Tesla, workers of which have never been represented by a union.
Volkswagen workers in Tennessee voted Friday to join the United Auto Workers union in a huge victory for the once-embattled union as it works toward another run at organizing Tesla.
After two failed attempts by the UAW in Chattanooga in recent years, Friday's victory represents a turning point for the 89-year-old union. After years of dwindling membership, a messy federal criminal investigation, and high-profile automotive industry organizing failures, UAW President Shawn Fain is aiming to usher in a new era for his union.
The counting of the votes by the National Labor Relations Board continued late into Friday night, with Reuters reporting that a final tally of 2,628 to 985, or 73% of the votes, were in favor of unionizing.
After a 46-day strike that hit all three Detroit car companies simultaneously last year yielded some of the richest UAW contracts in recent memory, Fain said the UAW was just getting started.
A massive drive has since gone into full force as the union encourages thousands of non-union auto workers to sign union cards, targeting nearly 150,000 US auto workers across 13 companies — including those outside Detroit and, most notably, Tesla.
This week's victory at Volkswagen makes history as the UAW's first successful organizing campaign at a foreign car company in the South. After the election at Volkswagen, the UAW is pressing deeper into the South next month for another unionization vote at Mercedes-Benz's factory in Alabama.
