Reassembling the UAW: Insurgency, Contention, and the Struggle for Unionism in the American South
Two years ago, the United Auto Workers (UAW) seemed poised for a turnaround.
After watching its membership rolls dwindle over decades of economic restructuring and ineffective leadership, the union was beginning to win again. A nationwide strike against the Big Three automakers (GM, Ford, and Stellantis) in 2023 broke with the union’s tradition of labor-management cooperation to secure substantial pay increases and eliminate multi-tier wage structures. The strike allowed the union to recoup much of what it had lost during previous decades of concessionary bargaining. Beyond these economic gains, the strike served as a dramatic demonstration of worker power, proving to critics the union was not moribund or irrelevant.
Key to this victory was the mobilization of members via the rank-and-file caucus Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which had spearheaded a campaign for an amendment to the union’s constitution allowing for the direct election of top officers. Newly invigorated, workers ousted the old bureaucracy and elected their new President, Shawn Fain, who injected the union with renewed energy and militancy.
Before the dust had settled, Fain was already announcing plans to build on that success. Immediately after tentative agreements with the Big Three were ratified, the union announced it would parlay its gains into a comprehensive strategy targeting all non-union auto plants, including foreign-owned “transplant” facilities as well as those owned by domestic firms, like Tesla and Rivian.
This campaign bore fruit almost immediately when the UAW won a landmark victory at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. As I document in my new book Reassembling the UAW: Insurgency, Contention, and the Struggle for Unionism in the American South, the UAW’s historic victory in Chattanooga marked the first time a Southern transplant had been unionized via an NLRB election since the 1940s. The decisive margin of victory was even more significant as it was the third time the UAW had tried to organize the plant. Rank-and-file workers took ownership of the organizing drive, which marked a sea change in the union’s internal culture. As of early 2024, it looked like the UAW was on the cusp of regaining the formidable power it had during its heyday.
"2022 UC UAW Strike", by Gabriel Classon, CC BY 2.0
Electoral Defeats, Bargaining Stalemates, and Slowing Momentum
But over the last two years, the union's prospects have grown more uncertain. Within a month of its victory at VW, the union was defeated in a plantwide election at a Mercedes facility in Vance, Alabama. Mercedes mounted stiffer opposition than VW, but the union’s loss nonetheless slowed momentum.
The union democracy movement has also hit roadblocks. The transition from an insurgent opposition group to a governing force proved destabilizing for UAWD. It grappled with deep internal divisions regarding its relationship with Fain’s administration, splitting between those prioritizing loyalty to the new leadership and those insisting on maintaining rank-and-file independence. Tensions were further exacerbated by ideological disagreements over the union's engagement with broader political issues, such as the conflict in Gaza and immigration policies. These conflicts culminated in a vote to dissolve UAWD in April 2025, with the majority leaving to form a new caucus aligned with Fain – even as a minority faction attempted to revive the original organization.
Additionally, as of December 2025, negotiations at the VW Chattanooga assembly plant are at a stalemate. The two sides have not yet reached an agreement on a first contract, even after VW presented what it termed its "last, best, and final offer.” The company’s proposal included a 20% wage increase over four years, a cost-of-living allowance, and a ratification bonus if workers approved the deal. However, the union’s leaders rejected this offer, arguing that it still fell short of the standards set by the Big Three automakers and failed to address key non-monetary concerns. Earlier this fall, workers voted to authorize a strike, giving the bargaining committee the power to call a walkout at any moment if negotiations remain at an impasse. The union has since accused VW of stalling and bad faith bargaining while the company maintains its offer is generous and competitive for the Tennessee market.
The primary obstacles to reaching a deal are currently job security and healthcare. The UAW is demanding legally binding language that protects the plant against closure, outsourcing, or sale—protections that were a centerpiece of the 2023 contracts with Detroit automakers. Additionally, the union is fighting for stronger provisions regarding work schedules and time off. As of this writing, no deal has been signed, and the union is holding meetings to prepare workers for potential industrial action as the situation intensifies.
UAW Statement on Union Election at BlueOval SK
The “UAW Bump” and Its Backlash
On the positive side, VW workers have already won significant wage gains, even without a contract. The 2023 strike triggered a race to the top, creating pressure for foreign-owned automakers to raise their own wages to compete with the new standards set by the UAW’s contracts with the Big Three. This phenomenon, which Fain termed the "UAW bump," resulted in non-union workers receiving post-strike pay increases that brought them to near-union levels. Like their counterparts at other transplants, workers in Chattanooga received an immediate 11% pay raise in 2023.
But these gains have now sparked a backlash from dissidents who argue that workers have already gained the benefits of a union without paying dues and should decertify the UAW. The union counters that if the mere threat of organizing could force VW to grant an 11% raise, actual collective bargaining power would likely yield even better results. Questions have also been raised about the authenticity of the decertification campaign, which appears to have the backing of professional anti-union operatives.
Beyond its struggles at VW, the union is currently grappling with significant friction regarding the implementation of its 2023 contracts with the Big Three. Tensions have been particularly high with Stellantis where the union has threatened new strike actions over the company's delays in reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant and other investment commitments.
The transition to electric vehicles remains another volatile flashpoint. While the UAW has secured protections for some battery plant workers, the shift has still triggered painful layoffs, leading to criticism from some rank-and-file members that the union hasn't done enough to stem job losses during the industry's technological pivot. Even Big-Three-operated battery plants have resisted the UAW’s organizing campaigns. For example, at Ford’s BlueOval, management ran an intensive anti-union campaign and employed a strategy of defensive wage hikes to mitigate worker dissatisfaction and slow union momentum by closing the wage gap just enough to reduce immediate organizing risk, while still preserving its crucial cost differential. In August 2025, BlueOval workers voted to join the UAW by a narrow majority, but the company immediately challenged the election’s outcome. As the political winds shift, the fate of the challenged ballots and the potential enforcement of the UAW’s narrow victory now rests with the NLRB.
DanielGoldhorn, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Recent Victories and the Foundations of Long-Term Power
Taken together, the current setbacks are disappointing, but they do not undo the UAW’s recent victories, including its landmark contracts with the Big Three automakers and its breakthrough organizing win at Volkswagen in Chattanooga. The union is also increasingly diversifying its base beyond the auto industry, including by cementing its status as a major player in higher education and other sectors. Looking toward the long term, Fain aligned the Big Three’s contracts to expire on May 1, 2028 as part of a strategy to encourage other unions to organize around a common deadline and lay the groundwork for a potential general strike.
Regardless of how the contract campaign at VW pans out, the UAW has now shown that transplants are not impervious to organizing. While the South remains challenging terrain, its hostility to unions is not insurmountable. The UAW has proved capable of contesting elections in both the North and the South and now has a record of success among domestic firms and transplants. If anything, the extended contract fight is an indication that these newly empowered workers are unwilling to settle for a subpar deal. With a toehold in the South, even a temporary setback will not erase previous gains, or, for that matter, negate the conditions that made the UAW’s victories possible.
Reassembling the UAW: Insurgency, Contention, and the Struggle for Unionism in the American South will be available in 2026 through Temple University Press.
