Workers at the EV Battery Plant in Ohio vote to unionize

Josh Bivens, author of the Economic Policy Institute report, said in an interview that he was pleasantly surprised that the administration was able to pass strong incentives for domestic production of electric vehicles. But, he added, whether the incentives will lead to good jobs is an open question.

“There is no real support or incentive to unionize these people or even the higher wages,” Mr. Bevins said.

Under union contract with the Big Three automakers, veteran rank-and-file production workers earn about $32 an hour, despite new hires. You start with much less pay They worked their way up to that amount over several years.

By contrast, the companies that manufacture electric car or its components Workers are typically paid hourly wages in their mid-twenties.

The union drive at the Ohio plant, known as Ultium Cells, represents one of the easier tests facing UAW regulators at an electric vehicle facility in the coming years. The plant is located in Warren, a mile or two from the union GM facility in Lordstown that operated for decades before the company unemployed This and Then I was sold In 2019, making local people aware of the benefits of union membership.

And while Ultium has not approved a so-called ticket check process that would have bypassed union elections, it has also not launched an anti-union campaign seeking to discourage workers from unionizing, according to a UAW spokeswoman. General Motors CEO Mary T. Barra said in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week that the company has been “very supportive” of unionization at the plant.

It is not clear how successful the union will be in organizing new electric vehicle plants, such as the Ultium facility Built in Tennesseeor Three factories are being built In partnership with Ford Motor Company and South Korean battery maker SK Innovation in Kentucky and Tennessee, where political culture is less welcoming to unions. Battery packs, which can cost around $15,000, are the most expensive component of an electric vehicle’s powertrain, and the major parts and systems that power a vehicle.