General Motors GM and LG battery plant workers overwhelmingly vote to join UAW

By Michael Elkins

The UAW announced in a statement today that a General Motors (NYSE:) joint venture battery plant in northeast Ohio have voted to join the United Automobile Workers union. The Ultium Cells plant, a joint venture between GM and LG solutions, began the two-day voting process on Wednesday where, according to the UAW, 98% of votes cast were in favor for the union.

The outcome appears to create the first formal union at a major U.S. electric car, truck or battery cell manufacturing plant not owned entirely by one of the Big Three automakers.

“Our entire union welcomes our latest members from Ultium,” says UAW President Ray Curry. “As the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles, new workers entering the auto sector at plants like Ultium are thinking about their value and worth. This vote shows that they want to be a part of maintaining the high standards and wages that UAW members have built in the auto industry.”

Barra on Thursday said if the Ohio plant voted in favor of organizing, she would like a deal with the union to be reached “as soon as possible.”

“My view on when do you want to get a labor agreement done is as soon as possible,” Barra said during an Automotive Press Association meeting in Detroit. “It’s one of those things that usually doesn’t get better with time.”

GM said in a statement Friday that it hopes “Ultium Cells and the UAW can successfully establish a competitive and flexible labor agreement that helps ensure the future success of Ultium Cells’ business.”

The National Labor Relations Board said that it had received the tally and that it would move to certify the result if no objections were filed.

Shares of GM are up 0.41% in mid-day trading on Friday.