• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Inside Story of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
  • Honda’s Big Bet on Fuel-Cell Tech Doesn’t Stop with Passenger Cars
  • First Look: 2024 BMW X5 and X6
  • Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Expand Global Partnership
  • Better the Second Time: Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
  • VinFast Raises Launch Concerns by Cutting 80 U.S. Jobs
  • Faraday Future Secures Cash, Prepares to Build Cars
  • BMW Spending $865M in Mexico for EV, Battery Plants
  • Q&A: Dave Marek, Acura Global Creative Director
  • Biden Admin. Makes EV Credits Available to More Buyers
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Accord
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus GX 460 Black Line
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > UAW Pushing to Represent Workers at Future Ford, GM Battery Plants

        UAW Pushing to Represent Workers at Future Ford, GM Battery Plants

        Union looking to ensure it's part of the future of car building.

        Joseph Szczesny
        Joseph Szczesny , Executive Editor
        April 29, 2021
        As Ford expands its battery-making capability, like at the Battery Benchmarking and Test Lab in Allen Park, Michigan, the UAW wants union workers involved.

        Ford Motor Co. has not even said it is ready to build a battery plant somewhere in the U.S., but the United Auto Workers already is preparing for the announcement by making it plain they expect it to be a union shop.

        The UAW outlined its position after Ford revealed plans this week to spend $185 million to build a new technical center dedicated to the development, testing and manufacture of battery cells.

        Ford’s Ion Park will be in Southeast Michigan on a site that will be selected soon and will have a dedicated staff of 150. Traditionally Ford engineers and technicians are classified as white-collar employees and don’t belong to the UAW. By contrast significant numbers of technicians and skilled trade employees working on advanced projects at General Motors and Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, do belong to the UAW.

        The future is now

        However, with the industry undergoing rapid change, the jobs — and future wages of employees in the battery plants — have become critical to the union, UAW officials noted.

        Ford battery development site Allen Park
        Ford is committed to its all-electric future with plans to create a new $185 million battery development lab.

        “The unique collaborative effort at Ion Park will position Ford and UAW members and families to prosper for decades to come,” said Gerald Kariem, the UAW vice president in charge of the union’s Ford Department. “There is crucial work to be done to make sure that the technology, infrastructure and market for consumer demand catches up with the promise of electric vehicles.

        “We are equally committed to making sure that we remain flexible to consumer demand rather than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. As we replace the internal combustion engine, we need to make sure that the jobs of tomorrow are good-paying union wage and benefit jobs going forward,” Kariem added.

        New investment key to UAW’s future

        Given the massive investment domestic automakers — as well as their competitors — are making in battery-electric vehicles, UAW President Rory Gamble noted their success is the UAW’s success and the security of its membership.

        UAW VP Terry Dittes said the union is working with GM to ensure union jobs are available and protected as the company transitions to electric vehicles.

        “If we get these investments wrong, the workers will be the ones who suffer,” he said previously. “But if we get these investments right, we can build a strong jobs climate with good paying jobs for American families that last for decades.”

        Ford, while reducing production of internal combustion engines, has stepped up investments in unionized plants building components for its new battery-electric vehicles.

        Gamble said the union is pressing the Biden administration to ensure new battery plants required by the auto industry in North America are built in the U.S.

        UAW representation at GM’s new battery plants

        The UAW already staked a claim to represent workers at new Ultium battery plant that GM and LG Chem are erecting in Lordstown, Ohio and a second battery plant GM announced it is planning to build in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

        GM Ultium cell plant topping ceremony 2021
        GM’s new Ultium battery plant under construction in Lordstown, Ohio is being targeted by the UAW to ensure they have union representation.

        “These are important jobs and we continue to work with General Motors on the transition to electric vehicles. We believe that GM has a moral obligation to work with the UAW and the joint venture partner to make sure these are good paying union jobs like those of their brothers and sisters who make internal combustion engines,” Terry Dittes, head of the GM Department said.

        However, wages of workers hired into the battery plants will be lower than those at plants building internal combustion engines because they will be classified as new employees and subject to a lower hourly rate than workers with seniority at factories building engines and transmissions.

        New study sees way to gain jobs

        The union also hopes the Biden administration can help make the transition from ICE to battery-electric vehicles easier on the UAW’s slowly declining membership numbers.

        Earlier this year, the UAW’s Research Department revised an earlier study, which predicted job losses at engine and transmission plants. The new study suggests that jobs in the auto industry could increase if more battery-electric vehicles and their key components are built in the United States rather than abroad.

        The emphasis on U.S. assembly could offset the inevitable job losses that will occur in engine and transmission plants where many UAW members now work as the industry shifts to battery-electric vehicles, according to the study, which was basically an extension of the UAW report issued in 2018 that warned of potential job losses.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Inside Story of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

        Today
        2023 Honda CR-V hybrid production REL

        Honda’s Big Bet on Fuel-Cell Tech Doesn’t Stop with Passenger Cars

        Today
        2024 BMW X5 xDrive 50e - front 3-4 driving v2

        First Look: 2024 BMW X5 and X6

        Yesterday

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: