Workers at an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kentucky began driving to meet

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Workers at a major electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kentucky have begun a drive to join the United Auto Workers as the union tries to expand its footprint in the South and among battery factories, the UAW said Wednesday. .

The BlueOval SK complex in Glendale is a joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and its South Korean partner, SK On, to produce batteries for Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. The nearly $6 billion battery park — about an hour south of Louisville — is preparing to begin production in 2025.

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The union said dozens of BlueOval SK workers signed union authorization cards to launch a public campaign to join the UAW.

The union will need to seek an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board to organize workers at the two-industry facility in Kentucky. So far, he has not filed his election papers.

Production at one of the plants is scheduled to begin next year. Construction is underway at the second plant but the first production date has been put on hold as Ford executives look for electric vehicles.

In a statement on its website, the union said it believes companies like Blue Oval SK “can do better to provide jobs, jobs that support families that strengthen our community.”

Asked about the response to the unionization effort, BlueOval SK Human Resources Director Neva Burke said in a statement: “We want to maintain a direct relationship with our employees.”

The UAW said workers at Blue Oval SK, now non-union, have weaker benefits than union workers at Ford. At the Blue Oval, workers start at $21 an hour, while UAW production workers at Ford start at $26.32 and can make as much as $42 an hour after three years, the union said.

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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, called the project a “game changer” for the state.

“We know EVs are the future,” Beshear said recently. “We don’t know how soon they’ll get here, but the future is being built in Kentucky, and we’re going to be a very big part of it.”

The UAW hopes to repeat its success in neighboring states.

Workers at a General Motors plant that assembles batteries for electric vehicles in Spring Hill, Tennessee, have joined a union. Workers at Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also voted to unionize. In Ohio, workers at another GM electric vehicle battery plant voted to join the UAW.

But the union lost an organizing vote in May at two Mercedes plants in Alabama.

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Krisher reported from Detroit.

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