UAW launches campaign to unionize Blue Oval SK battery workers in Hardin County
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
The United Auto Workers said Wednesday it’s launching a campaign to unionize the BlueOval SK electric vehicle battery manufacturing complex in Hardin County, spurred by a supermajority of workers there signing cards expressing interest in a union.
A press release from the UAW on Wednesday said the campaign launch is the “latest breakthrough for electric vehicle (EV) battery workers organizing with the UAW.”
Marcus Fatjo, listed as a “Production-Module” employee at BlueOval SK on a web page launched by the union, said in a provided statement that forming a union came down to job security.
“A union would give us a safety net to protect our jobs so they can’t just turn around and say your job is gone. It also gives us a voice and a seat at the table, that is one of the best parts about having a union,” Fatjo said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a strong advocate for unions, said earlier this month the first of two battery plants at the BlueOval SK complex, jointly owned by Ford Motor Co. and South Korea-based SK On, is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2025. Ford and SK On delayed the construction of the second plant with Ford executives pointing to demand for EVs not meeting initial expectations.
Beshear said in a weekly press conference in November that BlueOval SK had already hired approximately 1,100 workers with about 750 of them being assigned to the Hardin County complex, the workers having started their first day of work this month. The nearly $6 billion, 1,500-acre battery manufacturing complex is anticipated to employ roughly 5,000 people once the two plants are fully operational. Workers are currently being trained at a new educational facility in collaboration with the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.
Beshear had previously said in August the BlueOval SK plant wouldn’t be unionized following an agreement between Ford and the UAW, the complex having unionized employees working alongside non-unionized employees.
If Ford and SK On decide to not voluntarily recognize the union, then workers at the plant would vote in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. If a majority of workers in the election vote for a union, then the NLRB would certify the union for future collective bargaining with Ford and SK On.
Emails sent by the Lantern to representatives for Ford and SK On asking about the launching of the unionization campaign were not immediately returned.
Other Ford auto manufacturing plants in Kentucky are unionized including the Kentucky Truck Plant and Louisville Assembly Plant.
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