United States | Labour pains

Will unions sweep the American South?

The UAW won big at Volkswagen in Tennessee, but organising at other car plants is harder

A Volkswagon employee celebrates as results of the unionization vote trickle in at a United Auto Workers vote watch party in Tennessee.
Photograph: Getty Images
|Atlanta

Last July car parts as heavy as a small horse fell on Renee Berry. Three surgeries later she has metal rods, bolts and screws up her arms and cannot lift her two-year-old grandchild. In her 14 years working on the assembly line at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she found the factory floor to be disorganised and unsafe. Eventually she joined a union drive to persuade her colleagues to take action. When workers voted in late April to make Volkswagen the first foreign carmaker in the South to unionise, Ms Berry fell to the floor in joy, raised her hands and called out: “Thank you, Lord, you heard our cry.”

Explore more

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Will unions sweep the South?”

The new economic order

From the May 11th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Kamala Harris introduces “Coach” Tim Walz, her trusty running-mate

As Republicans seek to brand their rivals as dangerously liberal, Democrats are matching Donald Trump’s public displays of enthusiasm

Why Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz as her running-mate

Compared with a bolder but more divisive alternative, the Minnesota governor was the easier choice


Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump in our nationwide poll tracker

It is the first lead for a Democratic contender since October 2023


Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history

Her triumphant comeback at the Paris Olympics confirms her as also one of the most popular

Why do conservatives in America love Zyn?

A nicotine pouch has stimulated America’s young men—and the culture wars