
Henry Green is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary, lots of headlines for the United Auto Workers as the union comes out in support of tariffs, files for an election at a Volkswagen distribution center in New Jersey, and continues to bargain a first contract at the Chattanooga VW plant they organized last spring.
The UAW released a statement Tuesday praising President Trump’s announcement he would initiate broad tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. “We are glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class,” read a statement posted on the UAW’s website. The statement calls on corporations not to raise prices in response to the tariffs and says the union is working with the Trump Administration on “auto tariffs in April to benefit the working class.” As an article from Axios notes, the UAW endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024, but has “softened its tone toward the president since he won reelection.”
Meanwhile, bargaining continues at the Chattanooga, TN Volkswagen plant that the union organized in April. The plant employs more than 4,000 workers. The Chattanooga election win was the UAW’s “first breakthrough at a foreign automaker in the South.” Negotiations for the unit’s first contract began over the summer. The company’s latest offer includes a 20% wage increase over four years, up from an offer of 14% in December. The UAW bargaining committee says it’s fighting to secure a comparable package of wages, benefits, and working conditions as UAW members receive at Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
And in a final piece of UAW news, UAW-organized Volkswagen workers have filed for an election in New Jersey. Workers at a parts distribution center in Cranbury, NJ “became the first VW workers on the East Coast to file to unionize with the UAW,” according to the union. Parts distribution centers operate as a warehouse of parts for VW dealers, as a worker explains in a UAW video about the election. It appears the New Jersey unit would be smaller than the Chattanooga one, since the promotional video says the two units together would equal 5,000 UAW members at Volkswagen.
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July 31
EEOC sued over trans rights enforcement; railroad union opposes railroad merger; suits against NLRB slow down.
July 30
In today’s news and commentary, the First Circuit will hear oral arguments on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) revocation of parole grants for thousands of migrants; United Airlines’ flight attendants vote against a new labor contract; and the AFL-CIO files a complaint against a Trump Administrative Executive Order that strips the collective bargaining rights of the vast majority of federal workers.
July 29
The Trump administration released new guidelines for federal employers regarding religious expression in the workplace; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers is suing former union president for repayment of mismanagement of union funds; Uber has criticized a new proposal requiring delivery workers to carry company-issued identification numbers.
July 28
Lower courts work out meaning of Muldrow; NLRB releases memos on recording and union salts.
July 27
In today’s news and commentary, Trump issues an EO on college sports, a second district court judge blocks the Department of Labor from winding down Job Corps, and Safeway workers in California reach a tentative agreement. On Thursday, President Trump announced an executive order titled “Saving College Sports,” which declared it common sense that “college […]
July 25
Philadelphia municipal workers ratify new contract; Chocolate companies escape liability in trafficking suit; Missouri Republicans kill paid sick leave