Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday his opposition to unionization efforts in Tennessee, joined by other Republican governors.
Lee's statement targets the United Auto Workers just one day before employees of Volkswagen in Chattanooga are set to vote to join the UAW. It may come as no surprise to autoworkers, since Lee opposed the UAW’s 2019 effort to unionize at the plant. The governor’s office was reportedly working with Volkswagen to defeat the organizing plans, according to The Intercept.
Now the union’s efforts are more widespread than just Chattanooga: Workers in Tuscaloosa and Montgomery have launched their own campaigns to join the union. Along with Lee, governors from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas signed onto a joint statement against the unionization campaign.
“As Governors, we have a responsibility to our constituents to speak up when we see special interests looking to come into our state and threaten our jobs and the values we live by,” the statement says. “The reality is companies have choices when it comes to where to invest and bring jobs and opportunity. We have worked tirelessly on behalf of our constituents to bring good-paying jobs to our states. These jobs have become part of the fabric of the automotive manufacturing industry.”
The statement claims that unionization would jeopardize jobs in the states and says “all” UAW automakers have announced layoffs this year. There have been reports of buyout offers and layoffs at the companies for various reasons.
“The UAW has come in making big promises to our constituents that they can’t deliver on,” the governors’ statement says. “And we have serious reservations that the UAW leadership can represent our values. ... A successful unionization drive will stop this growth in its tracks, to the detriment of American workers.”
Lee was largely silent in the fall of 2023 during the UAW’s Stand Up Strike efforts, which resulted in pay raises among other changes to union workers’ contracts. General Motors employees in both Memphis and Spring Hill joined the picket lines during those efforts.
The Scene's sister publication the Nashville Post reached out to the UAW for comment but did not hear back by publication time. John Rutherford, president of UAW Local 1853 in Spring Hill, told the Post the governor's statement was no surprise.
"I think he's a little nervous because we're starting to organize and grow in the South," Rutherford says.
He adds that there has been "monstrous growth" in Spring Hill thanks to the General Motors plant that employs UAW workers. He also says talk about layoffs can be misleading as the industry often goes through "good layoffs," which happen temporarily when a plant shuts down in order to prepare for new products and growth.
"We're there just to check and balance the employer," Rutherford says. "We just want to earn an honest day's wage."
In response to Lee’s statement, Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) issued a statement of her own supporting Volkswagen workers' attempts to unionize.
“Unlike Tennessee’s governor, we applaud Volkswagen workers for engaging in the democratic process and we would welcome the UAW’s expansion in Chattanooga,” Lamar says. “We aren’t surprised to see Gov. Bill Lee join with other anti-union states trying to tip the scales against workers.”
This article first appeared in our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
