United Auto Workers strike members on the floor of the General Motors Lansing Delta plant in Delta Township, Michigan on September 29, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
DETROIT — Republican governors of six states on Tuesday condemned the United Auto Workers’ push to organize auto plants in the South, warning that the union’s efforts could lead to layoffs and less future investment.
The joint statement — signed by governors in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — comes a day before Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, begin voting on whether to join the UAW.
VW’s vote is part of an unprecedented labor organizing drive announced last year by UAW President Shawn Fain that targets 13 automakers with operations in southern states and elsewhere. Last year the union negotiated record contracts with General Motors, Ford Motor and parent of Chrysler Stellandis.
Elected state leaders, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, argue that such contracts provide short-term relief but have long-term negative effects on jobs and investment.
“We have worked tirelessly on behalf of our constituents to bring good-paying jobs to our states. Those jobs have become part of the fabric of the auto industry. Unionization would certainly put our states’ jobs at risk — in fact, in this for a year now, all UAW automakers have announced layoffs,” the statement said.
Bill Lee, Governor of Tennessee, smiles during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, US, Saturday, July 10, 2021.
Dylan Hollingsworth | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The UAW, which is also in the process of organizing a vote of Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama, did not immediately return calls for comment.
Since the UAW contracts with the Detroit automakers were ratified, there have been takeover bids, as well as layoffs of salaried and hourly workers at the companies.
Automakers are cutting costs in part to invest billions in all-electric vehicles, as well as to prepare for slowing market conditions and fears of an economic downturn.
Stellantis — the product of a January 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe — led the cuts, but many were supplemental or temporary workers who do not have the same pay or benefits as traditional assembly plant workers under the agreements.
The transatlantic car industry is said to have cut More than 1,000 additional workers this year, citing a review of its manufacturing operations “to ensure that all facilities operate as efficiently as possible in very difficult market conditions with all actions consistent with the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement” with the UAW. It is also reducing shifts at at least two Jeep plants, citing the complexity of the deals among other reasons.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain testifies on worker hours before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC .
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Passage has offered voluntary buyouts to its workers and announced layoffs, but many of its laid-off workers have been transferred to other nearby facilities.
GM also offers voluntary buyouts, although its post-contract layoffs have been largely, if not entirely, addressed by the factory changes. For example, the company laid off 1,300 workers in Michigan due to the shutdown of vehicle production at two plants.
In addition to Lee of Tennessee, other Republican governors who signed the statement were: Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Tate Reeves is the governor of Mississippi. An earlier version misstated the situation.