Volkswagen workers at the automaker’s Tennessee factory have filed to hold a union election, as the United Auto Workers (UAW) continues its drive at multiple U.S. facilities.
The UAW announced last month that a majority of workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, signed union cards. On Monday, the union shared a post on its website saying that workers at the plant have formally filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to join the UAW.
“Today, we are one step closer to making a good job at Volkswagen into a great career,” said Isaac Meadows, a team member in assembly. “Right now, we miss time with our families because so much of our paid-time-off is burned up during the summer and winter shutdowns. We shouldn’t have to choose between our family and our job. By winning our union and a real voice at Volkswagen, we can negotiate for more time with our families.”
Victor Vaughn, another employee who works in logistics, points to a need for improved safety efforts at the factory as the reason he supports unionizing.
“Just the other day, I was almost hit by four 500-plus pound crates while I was driving to deliver parts,” Vaughn explains. “That incident should’ve been followed up within the hour, but even after I clocked out no one asked me about it. VW has partnered with unionized workforces around the world to make their plants safe and successful. That’s why we’re voting for a voice at Volkswagen here in Chattanooga.”
Past attempts to unionize the plant have failed, with workers voting against joining the UAW most recently in 2019.
You can watch a video from the UAW below, featuring multiple workers at the Volkswagen plant explaining why they plan to vote yes.
On Monday, Volkswagen said it “will fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision. The election timeline will be determined by the NLRB.” (via Automotive News).
The NLRB has said that it received the filing for the UAW to represent around 4,300 workers at the plant. If Volkswagen and the UAW can’t agree on election details, then the NLRB will hold a hearing before the election on March 26.
The Chattanooga factory employs around 5,500 workers, according to the Volkswagen website. The facility produces the Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle (EV), the Atlas and the Atlas Cross Sport.
The UAW points out that it’s Volkswagen’s only plant around the world that doesn’t have employee representation. This also marks the first non-union U.S. plant at which workers have filed to hold an election, after the UAW successfully garnered record pay increases in a historic six-week strike against Ford, General Motors (GM) and Dodge-Chrysler owner Stellantis last year.
In November, following the ratification of the new contracts with the so-called “Big Three,” the UAW launched official union drives at Volkswagen, Tesla, Toyota and 10 other automakers with non-union-represented facilities in the U.S. Along with the Volkswagen plant achieving a supermajority of workers signing union cards, employees at a key Mercedes-Benz plant also signed up for the UAW last month.
Some have criticized the UAW for driving costs too high, and many have aired concerns about U.S. companies potentially moving manufacturing outside the country in response.
After the UAW threatened to launch a strike at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant last month, due to incomplete local contracts, CEO Jim Farley said that the automaker would “have to think carefully about our (manufacturing) footprint.”
“Our reliance on the UAW turned out to be we were the first truck plant to be shut down,” Farley said during a conference. “Really our relationship has changed. It’s been a watershed moment for the company. Does this have business impact? Yes.”
UAW targets Tesla in future plans to bargain with ‘Big Five or Six’
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a massive beat on vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, delivering 489,126 vehicles and building 451,758 cars during the three-month span.
This was a major shock for those on Wall Street as they anticipated somewhere around 400,000 deliveries for the quarter, and showed Tesla still has plenty of demand for its vehicles around the world and in the U.S. despite losing the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year.
Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings Results
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.33 reported vs. $0.53 expected
- Revenues – $28.236 billion reported vs. $26.4 billion expected
- Free Cash Flow- -$1.092B
- Profit -$ 4.751B
Tesla (beat/missed) analyst expectations, so the market response to the company’s quarter is what we will look for next.
Tesla shares closed today down just over 1 percent, trading at $374.01.
In the past, it has been anyone’s guess with what Tesla shares will do after they report earnings. Strong quarters have resulted in sharp drops, while lackluster quarters have seen the stock shoot up considerably.
Tesla will hold its Q2 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call https://t.co/zZS6ii2TWK
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Tesla is about to make parking in busy parking lots at businesses and other points of interest less stressful than ever by allowing drivers more control over where they park and how, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Tesla has been working to improve the parking performance of vehicles utilizing the Full Self-Driving suite, but now it is looking to add more customization, allowing drivers to choose the specific space they park in, but also potentially the orientation the car pulls into the spot:
It’s coming soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
Musk has reiterated on X twice over the past several weeks that Tesla is working to make things with the FSD suite based more on the driver’s specific preferences and behaviors that were seen in past drives.
Essentially, it sounds like if you tend to park away from a business to avoid other vehicles, Tesla FSD will soon recognize that preference of yours and start parking further away as well. Additionally, the prospect of assigned parking spaces has been something many owners have voiced concerns about.
Living in a community with assigned parking spaces makes using FSD incredibly difficult as it will rarely park in the correct spot when there are so many to choose from. This is also pertinent in work settings where there are sometimes assigned parking spaces.
The updates to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite in terms of listening to driver preferences with parking are also extending to routing. Tesla announced yesterday that with the release of its 2026 Summer Update, it was adding Automatic Navigation and Preferred Routes:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla has always maintained the idea that any human input is bad input, and that, ideally, Tesla Full Self-Driving will always make the right decision. Of course, this is all in theory, but the issue is that so many of Tesla’s interventions have come because it does something that is not necessarily wrong, but perhaps not what the driver would prefer.
Taking these preferences into account will help Tesla alleviate some of the potentially unnecessary interventions that drivers perform.
Tesla is starting to prepare for the launch of the Optimus robot in its smartphone app, new coding strings show. Elon Musk has referred to Optimus as what will be the greatest-selling product of any kind of all time, and now, Tesla is getting ready for its launch.
Tesla’s smartphone app had several first-time mentions of the Optimus program, according to Tesla App Updates, who intially reported on the appearance. Here’s what they found:
A Dedicated “Robot” Phone Key Authentication
Tesla is working on a Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, authentication that is specifically for robots. This does not only apply to Optimus, though, as Robotaxi, which is Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, might also identify vehicles within the fleet as robots as well.
Tesla shows rapid teardown of Model S and X lines, paving the way for Optimus at Fremont
Essentially, pairing your phone as a key to anything Tesla identifies as a robot to a “whitelist” of authorized devices. Optimus, Robotaxi, or other products that fall into this category will only respond if the device trying to communicate with it is authorized.
This is a great security feature that will eliminate at least face-value and low-level threats.
Home Data Collection and System Alerts
This appears to be somewhat of a neural network for Optimus within your house. There will be a dedicated screen that asks for consent to collect both video and spatial data while Optimus performs in-home tasks. Everything from vacuuming, washing dishes, dusting, and other activities will be tracked.
There will also be a comprehensive alert system that will track everything from low battery to mechanical issues.
Other Changes
Most of the changes tracked in this particular app update are related to Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, and include things such as image assets for new features, a preview of the new custom wraps feature, and other unique features.
You can check out our coverage on what is included with the 2026 Summer Update here:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
