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Sherrod Brown calls on General Motors to include Warren plant workers in national UAW contract

By Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters

Updated July 27, 2023 2:57 PM

A crane hoists the final, ceremonial iron beam into place atop the steel skeleton of the incoming Ultium Cells LLC electric vehicle battery plant in Lordstown on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Robert K. Yosay Mahoning Matters

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on General Motors to share the profits and help increase overall compensation for workers at the Trumbull County Ultium Cells plant by including them in the national autoworkers union.

According to GM, around 800 people are working at the first-of-its-kind Ultium Cells plant in Warren supplies battery cells used for powering GM electric cars and opened last year.

Senator Sherrod Brown Official U.S. Senate photo by Rebecca Hammel

Supporting workers at Ultium Cells plant in Warren

“One thing we know is we know how to make cars in the Mahoning Valley; it’s ingrained in our history,” said Brown. “Here’s the problem: the workers right now who are making the batteries that will power the next generation of American cars, some of them are making only about $16 an hour. These are highly skilled workers barely above minimum wage.”

The Ultium Cells plant is a joint venture partnership between GM and Korean supplier LG Energy Solution in the same business park complex as Foxconn EV and the Lordstown EV Corporation.

Brown and other Democratic legislators (listed below) urged GM to negotiate to reach a fair inclusion of Warren workers at all joint venture electric vehicle battery facilities into the national UAW contract.

Being included in these union contracts would mean a raise for Ultium battery workers in Warren, who are highly trained to deal with chemicals and equipment.

The senators called on GM as well as Stellantis and Ford Motor Company, calling them the Big Three Automakers to share their profits; they share that “between 2013 and 2022, General Motors and Ford Motor Company made over $100 billion and $75 billion in profit in North America, respectively.”

“The entire electric vehicle supply chain of workers has to share in these benefits. It can not just be executives making more and more money,” said Brown. “The Big Three automakers are in the middle of contract negotiations with UAW. These workers in the GM battery plant have already voted overwhelming for union representation. They know what the UAW means to the Valley. There’s no reason these workers should be excluded from the National UAW contract.”

According to the senator’s office, workers at the Ultium Cells battery plant in Warren voted 710 to 16 to unionize as part of the UAW.

“We know GM abandoned auto workers in the Valley when they closed the Lordstown plant,” Brown said. “We can’t allow that kind of behavior again. I’ll always stand with workers.”

Full letter available online

Read the full copy of the letter here, signed by the following senators:

Sen. Brown (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) John Fetterman (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).

“Profits should translate to gains for workers,” wrote the senators. “It is unacceptable that in the midst of extreme financial gains for the companies, executives, and investors, the workers making the electric vehicle batteries that will enable a transition to clean energy vehicles are making poverty-level wages. Before the expiration of UAW’s contract, we urge you to announce that all electric vehicle workers at these joint ventures will be folded into the national UAW contract.”