WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) joined 32 of his colleagues in a letter to 13 non-unionized automakers urging them not to illegally block United Auto Workers’ (UAW) unionization efforts at their manufacturing plants.
After the ratification of historic agreements between UAW and the Big Three automakers in Detroit, thousands of non-union autoworkers are publicly organizing to join the UAW.
“We are concerned by reporting at numerous automakers that management has acted illegally to block unionization efforts,” the senators wrote in a letter to the chief executive officers of Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.Â
“These retaliatory actions are hostile to workers’ rights and must not be repeated if further organizing efforts are made by these companies’ workers. We therefore urge you all to commit to implementation of a neutrality agreement at your manufacturing plants.”
“Every autoworker in this country deserves their fair share of the auto industry’s record profits, whether at the Big Three or the Non-Union Thirteen. We applaud these U.S. Senators for standing with workers who are standing up for economic justice on the job. It’s time for the auto companies to stop breaking the law and take their boot off the neck of the American autoworker, whether they’re at Volkswagen, Toyota, Tesla, or any other corporation doing business in this country,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.
U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) also joined in signing the letter.
The letter in its entirety is below: