Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers union on Friday.
Two previous attempts to join the union in the past few years had been soundly defeated. Friday’s vote, organized by the National Labor Relations Board, saw 73%, 2,628 people, vote in favor. Voter turnout was 83.5%.
The vote was seen by many as the first major test of the UAW union’s renewed efforts to unionize factories without unions, the Associated Press reported.
“I think it’s the reality of where we are and the times that we’re in,” UAW president Shawn Fain said after the result. “Workers are fed up in being left behind.”
“This gives workers everywhere else the indication that it’s OK,” he added. “All we’ve heard for years is we can’t win here, you can’t do this in the South, and
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