Guest commentary: For safe jobs, EV battery workers need a union contract
From mining to manufacturing, EV manufacturers also have a key role to play in ensuring their battery value chains are free from workers’ rights abuses. They should begin by conducting comprehensive due diligence into the labor practices of their suppliers and establishing clear requirements and incentives.
U.S. manufacturers should set an example by taking responsibility for violations in their supply chain and establishing grievance and remedy mechanisms for workers. They can also stop using joint ventures with battery manufacturers as a way to sidestep collective bargaining agreements, undercut wages and weaken labor standards. And Tesla, America’s largest producer of EVs, should stop skirting labor law.
A global shift to EVs is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but we need to pressure the corporations receiving billions of dollars in tax subsidies to make it a just transition, rather than an exploitative one. As the recently announced Department of Labor lawsuit against Hyundai over the use of child labor by its suppliers shows, automakers will no longer be able to evade accountability for abuses in their supply chains by feigning ignorance or claiming it’s not their responsibility.
The UAW is aware of the grave dangers of an ill-equipped and unrepresented workforce. With 30 EV battery projects under construction across the U.S., and hundreds more expected across the globe, we’re urging manufacturers and policymakers to adopt safety standards that save lives.
Unfortunately, leading EV manufacturers are not rising to the challenge. The Lead the Charge Leaderboard evaluates the efforts of 18 of the world’s leading automakers to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, environmental abuses and human rights violations from their supply chains.
Industrywide this year, automakers scored 19 percent on their efforts to ensure their suppliers respect workers’ rights, rising by a meager 3 percent compared with the previous year’s average score. Even the two top scorers (Ford and Mercedes) achieved scores of just 50 percent and 51 percent against these indicators.
As we change the way cars are made around the world, let us learn from the lessons of the past and reject a low-road transition to how we build EVs. Workers deserve better. Our environment deserves better. A green transition requires leadership at the top, and good, safe jobs on the ground. Whatever happens this November, the UAW will continue to fight for a just transition to battery power.
