Union workers at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant voted last week to authorize a strike as contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the German auto company continue to stall.
In April 2024, Volkswagen employees at the Chattanooga plant voted to join the UAW after two prior attempts to unionize failed.
More than a year later, workers have yet to successfully negotiate their first union contract with Volkswagen nearly 18 months after joining the UAW.
In addition to demands for “higher wages” and “affordable health care,” workers are “bargaining over a broad set of workplace issues, including stronger safety standards, fair scheduling policies, paid leave, protections against unjust discipline, and a meaningful voice in workplace decision-making,” according to the UAW.
🚨 SUPERMAJORITY OF VOLKSWAGEN WORKERS IN CHATTANOOGA VOTE TO AUTHORIZE STRIKE FOR JOB SECURITY AND A FAIR CONTRACT 🚨
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga have voted to authorize a strike against the German automaker after over a year of contract negotiations have failed to… pic.twitter.com/Fb2Xo2MoMK
— UAW (@UAW) October 30, 2025
In September, Volkswagen said its “final contract offer” would include a 20 percent wage increase, cost-of-living allowance, $4,000 ratification bonus, reduced health care costs, paid time off, and additional holidays.
However, UAW said Volkswagen’s most recent proposal does not include the “job security language needed to protect workers from plant closures, outsourcing, or the sale of the Chattanooga facility.”
UAW claims last week’s strike authorization comes as Volkswagen has committed “unfair labor practices,” including “bad faith negotiations, unlawful intimidation, and the unilateral cutting of jobs at Volkswagen’s only U.S. assembly plant.”
The union said its bargaining committee will continue to request further negotiations with Volkswagen management and will call a strike if need be.
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are ready to STAND UP! pic.twitter.com/Nt6awh2vU2
— UAW (@UAW) October 27, 2025
The week before workers voted to authorize a strike, a “practice picket” took place outside the Chattanooga plant as workers chanted, “Volkswagen, Volkswagen you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side” and “We work, we sweat, we want more in our checks.”
As UAW points out how Volkswagen “made $20.6 billion in profits in 2024…and can afford to provide a union contract that honors the hardworking autoworkers of Chattanooga,” the Chattanooga plant said it doesn’t have “unlimited resources.”
“We are a single factory that must remain competitive in an uncertain economy,” Volkswagen said.
On Thursday, Volkswagen marked its first quarterly loss in five years, reporting a loss of more than $1 billion in quarterly earnings due to tariffs and changes to its production to scrap a line of electric models.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “UAW Strikers” by UAW.
