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united auto workers
‘Historic Victory’: Volkswagen Workers Ratify First Union Contract at Southern Auto Plant
"Southern autoworkers are standing up, and I expect many more to follow Volkswagen’s lead," said the director of United Auto Workers Region8.
Feb 20, 2026
Organized labor scored a massive win in the US South on Thursday as Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted with 96% support to ratify their first union contract, a four-year deal that includes significant wage increases, reduced healthcare costs, and stronger job-security protections.
The contract ratification vote came nearly two years after the Chattanooga Volkswagen workers voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers (UAW), which called the vote a "historic victory." The UAW is leading a concerted effort to unionize workplaces in the South, where so-called "right-to-work" laws and Republican-controlled governments' hostility to labor have made organizing extremely difficult.
"Southern autoworkers are standing up, and I expect many more to follow Volkswagen’s lead,” said Tim Smith, director of UAW Region 8, following the contract vote. “Workers are done being left behind, and VW is just the first step towards justice for autoworkers everywhere. Who are we? U-A-W!”
Shawn Fain, the UAW's president, said that Volkswagen workers have "moved yet another mountain."
“From having the courage to stand up and form their union, to having the backbone to authorize a strike and hold out for a contract that honors their worth, VW workers are leading the way for the entire labor movement and non-union autoworkers everywhere," said Fain. "Welcome to the UAW family."
The union victory at the German automaker's lone active manufacturing plant in the US was seen as a critical breakthrough for Southern organizing efforts. The AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the US, called the Volkswagen contract vote "an inspiring and historic milestone for working people in the South."
The UAW's bargaining committee at the Chattanooga plant celebrated the win but stressed that ratification is just the first step.
"The next step is enforcing it," the committee said. "The strongest way to make sure every raise is paid, management follows every safety rule, and every right is respected is simple: Become a member. Membership means collective strength. Membership means protection. Membership means that when the contract is tested—and it will be—workers stand united and ready to defend what they fought to win."
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Trump-Heckling Auto Worker Keeps His Job and Faces No Discipline: UAW
"That's a union brother who spoke up," said UAW president Shawn Fain. "He put his constitutional rights to work. He put his union rights to work."
Feb 09, 2026
TJ Sabula, the auto worker who called President Donald Trump a “pedophile protector" last month, is reportedly keeping his job.
According to a report from the Detroit News, United Auto Workers (UAW) vice president Laura Dickerson said on Monday that Sabula is not getting fired from his job at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, and he will not face any discipline for his heckling of the president.
Dickerson, who discussed Sabula's case at the UAW's annual Community Action Program conference in Washington, DC, also took a shot at Trump for giving Sabula the middle finger while appearing to mouth or yell “fuck you” back at the auto worker.
"In that moment, we saw what the president really thinks about working people," Dickerson said. "As UAW members, we speak truth to power. We don't just protect rights, we exercise them."
UAW president Shawn Fain also took time during the conference to offer appreciation for Sabula, the Detroit News reported.
"That's a union brother who spoke up," said Fain. "He put his constitutional rights to work. He put his union rights to work."
Sabula, who said he decided to called Trump a "pedophile protecter" for his attempts to block the release of files related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, had been suspended from his job after the incident took place.
Critics of the president quickly rushed to Sabula's aid, however, as two separate GoFundMe campaigns aimed at raising money for the auto worker raked in a total of over $800,000.
In an interview published last month by the Washington Post, Sabula said he had “no regrets whatsoever” about yelling at the president, even though it led to his suspension.
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” Sabula told the Post. “And today I think I did that.”
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Donations to Auto Worker Suspended for Heckling Trump Soar Past $800,000
"We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support!" autoworker TJ Sabula said to donors.
Jan 16, 2026
Fundraisers for TJ Sabula, the auto worker who called President Donald Trump a “pedophile protector,” are being flooded with cash from supporters following news that he was suspended from his job at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
Two separate GoFundMe campaigns aimed at raising money for Sabula have raked in a total of over $800,000 just three days after the auto worker heckled Trump for his attempts to block the release of files related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump responded to Sabula's taunts by giving him the middle finger, while appearing to mouth or yell “fuck you” back at the auto worker.
Sabula on Wednesday expressed gratitude to all the people who had chipped in for the crowdfunding campaign so far.
"We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support!" he wrote at the "TJ Sabula is a Patriot" GoFundMe page. "At this time we are closing donations to this campaign and encourage you to look for other causes and organizations to support. We appreciate every single donation, comment, share, and sign of support!"
In addition to the outpouring of support from strangers, Sabula got the backing of the United Auto Workers (UAW), which described the suspended worker as "a proud member of a strong and fighting union,” further noting that “he believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job."
UAW vowed that Sabula will receive “the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member.”
In a Tuesday interview published by the Washington Post, Sabula said he had “no regrets whatsoever” about yelling at the president, despite the uncertain future he now faces at his job.
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” Sabula told the Post. “And today I think I did that.”
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