On November 22, Volkswagen said it would replace production workers at its assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.11% salary increase. A few weeks ago, the United Auto Workers (UAW) secured significant pay increases and benefits for its members at the Big Three Detroit automakers.
Volkswagen said in a press release that the salary increase will start fromEffective from December, noting that Volkswagen USA reviews the compensation of production team members each year at the end of the year to ensure that it can continue to provide a competitive and strong compensation package to attract and motivate the employees who make the daily operations of the plant possible.
The UAW reached record contracts with Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis in late October after thousands of UAW members staged a six-week targeted strike. In the wake of this, non-unionized automakers in the U.S. such as Volkswagen have faced growing pressure on pay and benefits.
In the following weeks, Japanese automakers Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. announced increases in wages for non-union workers at U.S. factories. Hyundai Motor also announced that it will raise wages for its non-union workers in Alabama and Georgia by 25% over the next four years.
Reuters pointed out that there are signs that the UAW is turning its attention to organizing union activities at non-unionized foreign-owned auto plants and Tesla auto plants. Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain told Reuters that many Tesla workers had expressed interest in becoming union members. In contrast, Tesla's operating profit advantage is far greater than that of other automakers, but it has not yet announced any measures related to salary increases.