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Grow and Organize the Clean Vehicle Market
Consumer preferences and federal incentives are poised to spur domestic electric vehicle production in the decades to come. While the growth of the EV industry poses real challenges for the existing automotive workforce, the sheer volume of needed investments in domestic manufacturing also creates growth opportunities for the IAM and other unions.
To maximize opportunities in the automotive sector, the IAM can start by assessing its current workforce. Where are there locals that face the threat of membership decline, and how can we prioritize investments in these areas? Where are IAM members at risk of losing their jobs, and how can the union secure existing pensions and benefits as industries wind down? Preparation now can help ensure that auto mechanics and manufacturing workers retain high-quality jobs and benefits for years to come.
But the IAM’s automotive strategy must also seek to expand upon its current membership. Currently, the majority of EV manufacturing investments are landing in the “right-to-work” South. Bringing new automotive workers into the union will require ambitious and well-resourced organizing campaigns, as well as sophisticated strategies to combat employer interference during union drives. IAM can draw on lessons learned from its recent victory for nearly 300
337 Shields et al., “A Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy in the United States.”
338 Shields et al.
339 Stefek et al., “U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Workforce Assessment.”
340 Stefek et al.
workers at Lion Electric, an electric bus manufacturer. Organizers can also study other unions’ victories–such as the United Auto Workers Volkswagen campaign in Tennessee341 and the United Steelworkers Blue Bird campaign in Georgia342–for additional lessons on successful organizing in the South.
To organize the rapidly-emerging clean vehicles industry, researchers should track the disbursal of IRA funds. The Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell’s ILR School has developed IRA tracking practices and can assist the IAM in mapping out the terrain for new campaigns. The IAM can then work to leverage labor standards attached to federal dollars to help win campaigns. For example, advanced vehicle manufacturers can use the IRA’s Advanced Energy Project Credit, which multiplies up 5x when employers meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.343 The IRA contains similar tax credits and grants for manufacturing low emissions heavy duty vehicles and electric vehicles. When necessary, the union can call on political allies to speak up when companies take public funds, only to shirk their responsibilities to workers.
Finally, the IAM can play a positive role in training and reskilling workers for the growing low- carbon auto industry. By organizing new workplaces, the IAM can use collective bargaining to set industry standards, including expanded safety certifications, joint union-employer reskilling programs, and updated pay scales for new work on electric vehicle maintenance, hydrogen fuels, or other technologies. Tax credits incentivizing the use of apprentices in manufacturing can help companies, as well as unions like the IAM, attract a diverse, skilled workforce. The IAM can lead by continuing to introduce more new automotive skills into its training programs.