AFT’s Weingarten on UAW’s Victory at Volkswagen in Chattanooga

WASHINGTON-AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers:

"This righteous result will resonate long and loud-not only for autoworkers in the South or for workers around the country, but for every worker worldwide. I couldn't be prouder of the Volkswagen activists for never giving up, and of UAW President Shawn Fain for leading and inspiring their fight.

"As the southern governors who banded together to try and defeat the union showed, the other side will stop at nothing to thwart worker aspiration. The UAW demonstrated tonight that organizing worker by worker, on the heels of a successful strike against the Big Three, inspires aspiration.

"The AFT and UAW have an 85-year tradition of solidarity and mutual support: the moral, strategic and financial muscle of the UAW played a crucial role in establishing the AFT as an organizing and bargaining force in the 1960s, a special relationship that persists to this day.

"Just as the UAW stood with us, America's educators, healthcare workers and public employees will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Volkswagen workers as they bargain a first contract. And we will stand with the UAW members of tomorrow as more and more gain the courage to join together to improve their lives.

"The labor movement, public education and voting are the best vehicles workers have to get ahead in an economy that all too often feels rigged against them. Tonight's triumph is a shot in the arm and an enduring reminder that together we can achieve far more than we ever can alone."

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The AFT represents 1.7 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.