Workers at the sole Hyundai Motor Co. HYMTF plant in the U.S., located in Alabama, have unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW).
What Happened: The UAW has successfully recruited 30% of the workforce at the Alabama Hyundai plant, reported The Hill on Thursday. This marks the third public unionization drive at a Southeastern automaker.
The workers have cited poor working conditions, inadequate compensation, and management’s alleged anti-union tactics as the driving forces behind their decision to join the UAW.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, UAW wrote “Welcome to Montgomery, Alabama. The city where Rosa Parks sat down. And where thousands of Hyundai workers are ready to Stand Up.” It was attached with an over-a-minute-long video where a few auto workers from Alabama highlighted their demand for a safe and secure job at Hyundai.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) has criticized the unionization efforts, characterizing them as the work of “out-of-state special interest groups.”
UAW’s recent success in the Southeastern U.S. follows its victory in a simultaneous strike against the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis — last year. This campaign resulted in wage increases and workplace reforms.
Why It Matters: The UAW’s success at the Alabama Hyundai plant comes amid a broader campaign to expand its influence in the Southeastern U.S. This campaign began with the UAW’s victory in a simultaneous strike against the Big Three automakers last year.
Earlier in December, the UAW initiated legal action against Honda, Hyundai, and Volkswagen, accusing them of conducting anti-union campaigns to deter workers from organizing in their U.S. plants. Workers organizing with the UAW at Honda in Indiana, Hyundai in Alabama, and Volkswagen in Tennessee had filed charges against management for illegally union-busting as workers organized to join the UAW.
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