General Motors said on Tuesday the United Auto Workers (UAW) union is “well-positioned” to represent over 2,300 workers at new U.S. joint venture battery plants with South Korea’s LG Chem.
The UAW said it looks forward to starting discussions with the automaker on the “joint venture to produce batteries in Ohio and Tennessee so workers will have a voice at the table in order to create good paying union jobs and benefits”.
The UAW wants U.S. automakers to recognize the union at joint-venture battery facilities. The union has said it represents about 48,500 U.S. employees at GM, though the automaker says about 49% of its U.S. workforce, or 46,000 workers, were represented by the UAW, as of the end of the last year.
GM said both the company and the joint venture, known as Ultium Cells LLC. They said they respect workers’ right to unionize and the efforts of the UAW in organizing battery cell manufacturing workers in Ohio and Tennessee at the joint venture sites.
GM added that it believes the UAW, “given their historic and constructive relationship in the automotive industry, would be well-positioned to represent the workforce”.
