{"id":234145,"date":"2022-11-01T08:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T12:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=234145"},"modified":"2022-11-01T09:50:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T13:50:55","slug":"uaw-petitions-for-nlrb-for-election-at-gms-ultium-cells-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2022\/11\/uaw-petitions-for-nlrb-for-election-at-gms-ultium-cells-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"UAW Petitions for NLRB for Election at GM\u2019s Ultium Cells Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a statement from Ultium Cells LLC.)<\/em><\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sign of the escalating labor battle between General Motors\u2019 new Ultium battery plant in Ohio and the United Auto Workers, the union filed a petition for election with the Cleveland office of the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of approximately 900 workers at Ultium Cells LLC in Warren Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ultium
Ultium Cells in Ohio declined to access the UAW card check results.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA majority of Ultium workers have signed cards authorizing the UAW to represent them,\u201d said UAW President Ray Curry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Ultium declined to accept the pro-union card check. The card check is a process used by the union that can allow it to skip the formality of an election, if an overwhelming majority of employees turn in a card saying they want UAW representation<\/a><\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy refusing to recognize their majority will, Ultium \u2014 which is a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution<\/a><\/u><\/strong> \u2014 has decided to ignore democracy and delay the recognition process. Make no mistake: whether it is by card check or union election, these workers will be members of the UAW,\u201d said Curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the UAW, Ultium previously indicated a willingness to recognize the majority will of the workers based on authorization cards but has now backtracked. The process is important as GM and LG Energy are building three more plants for battery-cell production, including the next one set to come online in Spring Hill, Tennessee<\/a><\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"UAW
UAW President Ray Curry said despite the refusal of card check results, “these workers will be members of the UAW.”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

GM spokesman Dan Flores said in an email GM would not have any comment on the UAW petition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltium Cells respects workers\u2019 freedom to choose union representation and the efforts of the UAW to organize battery cell manufacturing workers at our Ohio manufacturing site,\u201d the company said in a statement to TheDetroitBureau.com. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltium Cells will comply with the National Labor Relations Act, which protects our employees\u2019 right to freely decide unionization through a voluntary election conducted by the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). Ultium Cells believes the right to a personal and private vote is important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slow ramp up pinching GM\u2019s EV production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last week, CEO Mary Barra said during a conference call with investors GM will miss its previously announced EV production targets by at least six months, GM had said it expected to build 400,000 EV units by the end of 2023 as production for the Lordstown battery plant ramped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it has taken \u201ca little longer than expected\u201d to bring in the workers at the new battery plant in Warren, Ohio. complicating production of the Ultium batteries GM needs, Barra said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ultium
The company and the union have engaged in a quiet tug of war over the plant for the past several months. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The company and the union have engaged in a quiet tug of war over the plant for the past several months. The plant is located on a site once occupied by General Motors production facilities, and unions have long been part of the fabric of life throughout Northeastern Ohio where the plant is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lordstown assembly plant GM phased out in 2019 over the objections of the union is now occupied by fledgling Lordstown Motors, which is having its own challenges ramping up production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the past several months, the company participated in meetings and discussions with the UAW about a process for certifying the UAW\u2019s majority status without going through an NLRB election, according to the union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had hoped Ultium would have done the right thing so we can get on with the business of bargaining and addressing the serious health and safety issues in the plant,\u201d said George Goranitis, a Lead in the Electrode Department and one of the Ultium employees supporting the union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis decision by Ultium reminds every one of us why we need to form our union as the company does not care about our interests. We are ready to win our election.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UAW says despite \u201cgood-faith\u201d talks with Ultium Cells LLC, the battery-making JV formed by GM and LG Energy, the new company won\u2019t accept a card check that comes out in favor of union representation \u2014 failing to live up to an early commitment. Now they\u2019ve filed for with the National Labor Relations Board to have an election, reports TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20009,"featured_media":234149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[914,7,8,5,10,1164,1169,2648],"tags":[8482,348,8480,8481,512,8483],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234145"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234156,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234145\/revisions\/234156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234145"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=234145"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=234145"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=234145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}