More than 3000 Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, TN voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW in April of 2024. In October of 2025, after more than a year of negotiations, workers voted to authorize a strike in order to win a fair contract. In early February 2026, they reached a tentative agreement with the company, which has now been ratified.

“This victory shows what happens when workers stand up and refuse to be ignored. We didn’t just win better wages and raise standards at our plant -we forced respect onto the table and got it all in writing,” said Yogi Peoples, a Bargaining Committee member from Assembly. “Our victory here at Volkswagen should send a message to autoworkers everywhere: don’t let management divide you. When workers fight together – united and unafraid — we can beat the odds and win!”

Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted 3-to-1 to join the UAW in 2024, with support from the Volkswagen Works Council and IG Metall. Soon after the victory, workers elected a 20-member negotiating committee made up of their peers. After months of negotiations, the contract likely is a breakthrough for non-union autoworkers and manufacturing workers across the South. The UAW contract “ensures that Volkswagen workers have a legally binding, enforceable contract guaranteeing fair pay, more affordable healthcare, safer working conditions, and clear protections against favoritism, the UAW claimed.