UAW: Most Ford battery workers at Kentucky plant sign union cards

The majority of workers at a Ford battery plant in Kentucky signed union cards with the United Auto Workers, the union announced Wednesday.

Signing the cards were what the UAW called a supermajority at Ford’s BlueOval SK plant in Glendale, Kentucky. The union didn’t disclose the exact percentage of workers who signed.

The plant is co-owned by Ford and South Korean battery company SK On. The workers at the plant are nonunion and produce many of the batteries used in Ford’s electric vehicles. 

If UAW succeeds in unionizing the plant, it would follow small victories for the union in organizing nonunion battery plants around the U.S.

Earlier this year, the union reached several agreements with General Motors to recognize UAW locals at battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee.

The union has made nonunion battery plants a key part of its growth strategy after securing a contract with Detroit automakers last year. During contract negotiations in 2023, UAW President Shawn Fain frequently demanded that workers at EV battery plants affiliated with Ford, GM or Stellantis be included in the union. Additionally, he pushed for promises that future battery plants would be union facilities.

UAW securing a supermajority of union pledges doesn’t ensure a union victory at the plant. Under the UAW’s organization strategy, workers at the plant will get full support from the UAW after securing over 75% support, which could mean that a union election is on the horizon. 

If the UAW wins an election at the Kentucky plant, it would mean higher wages for employees. According to the union, workers at the battery plant make $21 an hour, $5 less than the starting wage for a UAW member at a Ford production facility. 

In addition to organizing nonunion battery facilities, the UAW has invested millions of dollars in unionization efforts at nonunion companies like Volkswagen, Tesla and Mercedes. The results have been mixed, with the union securing a victory only at VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant last April.