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UAW celebrates breakthrough win in Tennessee and takes aim at more auto plants in the South

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UAW celebrates breakthrough win in Tennessee and takes aim at more auto plants in the South


By DAVID KOENIG | AP Business Writer

DALLAS — The United Auto Workers’ overwhelming election victory at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee is giving the union hope that it can make broader inroads in the South, the least unionized part of the country.

The UAW won a stunning 73% of the vote at VW after losing elections in 2014 and 2019. It was the union’s first win in a Southern assembly plant owned by a foreign automaker.

Union President Shawn Fain said the pundits all told him that the UAW couldn’t win in the South.

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“But you all said, ‘Watch this,’ ” he told a cheering group of VW organizers at a union hall in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Friday night, when the UAW victory was clear. “You guys are leading the way. We’re going to carry this fight on to Mercedes and everywhere else.”

Volkswagen automobile plant employee LaShawn Hawthorne, center left, takes picture with UAW president Shawn Fain after workers voted to join the union Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

However, the UAW is likely to face a tougher test as it tries to represent workers at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A five-day election is scheduled to start May 13, where the union’s campaign has already become heated.

The UAW has accused the German carmaker of violating U.S. and German labor laws with aggressive anti-union tactics, which the company denies.

“They are going to have a much harder road in work sites where they are going to face aggressive management resistance and even community resistance than they faced in Chattanooga,” said Harry Katz, a labor-relations professor at Cornell University. “VW management did not aggressively seek to avoid unionization. Mercedes is going to be a good test. It’s the deeper South.”

Volkswagen automobile plant employee Vicky Holloway becomes emotional as she celebrates after employees voted to join the UAW union Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Volkswagen automobile plant employee Vicky Holloway becomes emotional as she celebrates after employees voted to join the UAW union Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Late last year, the UAW announced a drive to represent nearly 150,000 workers at non-union factories largely in the South. The union is targeting U.S. plants run by Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo, along with factories operated by electric-vehicle makers Tesla, Rivian and Lucid.

The union’s last defeat at VW in Chattanooga came at a low-water mark — in the middle of a federal investigation into bribery and embezzlement under a previous president.

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Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who studies the UAW, said the union flipped the script by installing new leadership, touting the rich contracts it won last year from Detroit automakers after strikes at targeted factories, and exploiting a climate that is now more favorable to unions. He said the union was also adept at translating signed pro-union authorization cards into votes — partly by pushing for a quick election.

“Now the public and media eyes are going to be on Chattanooga and how quickly the UAW can translate this into a contract,” he said. If the union can’t quickly get a good contract, it risks losing some of the momentum it gained with Friday’s election win, he said.

UAW president Shawn Fain signs an autograph for Volkswagen automobile plant employee Rachel Gleeson after workers voted to join the union Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
UAW president Shawn Fain signs an autograph for Volkswagen automobile plant employee Rachel Gleeson after workers voted to join the union Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Unions in other industries are already moving ahead with organizing campaigns in the South and trying to learn from the UAW’s playbook.

The Association of Flight Attendants, which has tried and failed to win over cabin crews at Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, hopes to collect enough signatures to force another election at Delta by year end. The union’s president, Sara Nelson, said she was not surprised at the UAW win after strikes that led to record contracts last year.

“I’ve been talking about this for a long time — that strikes and taking on the boss is going to spur organizing, and that’s exactly what we saw here,” Nelson said.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain speaks to Volkswagen auto workers Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn., after workers at a VW factory voted to join the UAW. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain speaks to Volkswagen auto workers Friday, April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn., after workers at a VW factory voted to join the UAW. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Nelson is trying to secure an industry-leading contract at United Airlines that she can use to court Delta crews. In the meantime, crews at startup Breeze Airways, many of whom live in the South, will vote next month whether to join her union.

The White House issued a statement from President Joe Biden congratulating the UAW. Biden — who joined a UAW picket line in Michigan during the union’s strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis plants last year — praised the success of unions representing autoworkers, Hollywood actors and writers, health care workers and others in gaining better contracts.

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“Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers,” Biden said.

Biden criticized six Southern Republican governors, including Bill Lee of Tennessee, who told autoworkers this week that voting for union representation would jeopardize jobs.

Sharon Block, a law professor at Harvard University who worked for the Biden administration on labor and other issues, said the governors’ warning rang hollow after nonunion Tesla revealed that it plans to lay off 10% of its workers after disappointing sales results. She said VW workers saw the governors’ open letter as “an empty threat and a cynical ploy,” and they ignored it.

“Workers for a long time have been told that you can’t organize in the South. And many workers, even not in the South, may work in industries where they’ve been told for a long time you can’t organize,” Block said. “What the UAW showed last night is that we need to go and rethink all those negative statements.”

Associated Press writer Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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Titans vs Colts key moments: How Tennessee Titans lost to Indianapolis Colts

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Titans vs Colts key moments: How Tennessee Titans lost to Indianapolis Colts


The Tennessee Titans continue their December woes with a 38-30 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that was considerably worse than the final score line despite a fourth-quarter comeback attempt.

Indianapolis led 38-7 at one point in the third quarter after the Colts scored 38 straight, but 23 unanswered points by the Titans forced Indianapolis to run a four-minute offense to close the game out.

Tennessee (3-12) was done in by the Colts’ 24-point second quarter. Jonathan Taylor finished with 218 rushing yards and three touchdowns as Tennessee’s defense allowed 335 rushing yards overall.

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Here are three key moments from the Titans’ Week 16 game:

Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts key moments

Scenario: Titans give Colts good field position after missed 53-yard field goal

Brayden Narveson’s first field goal attempt for the Titans, stepping in for the injured Nick Folk, was from 53 yards in the first quarter with the Titans leading 7-0 with 14:16 left in the second quarter.

Tennessee could have taken a 10-point lead. But Narveson’s kick was short and wide right, giving the Colts the ball near midfield.

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The Colts drove down the field after the missed field goal, tying the game on an Anthony Richardson 5-yard touchdown run.

Scenario: Jonathan Taylor’s first touchdown run of the game gives Colts the lead

In a 7-7 game, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor took off for the first of several big runs on Sunday.

Taylor sprinted on zone left run, then cut back and sprinted for a 65-yard touchdown run with 7:25 left in the second quarter. Indianapolis took the lead and never looked back.

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Scenario: Kenny Moore’s interception leads to a Josh Downs TD catch, Colts’ 24-7 halftime lead

Mason Rudolph’s telegraphed pass was picked off by Kenny Moore with 1:25 left in the first half, and the Colts quickly took advantage.

Josh Downs took a quick pass on a bubble route and raced past two Titans defenders for a 27-yard touchdown catch just before halftime. Indianapolis led 24-7 at the break, and the Titans’ woes continued.



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What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football's loss at Ohio State

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What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football's loss at Ohio State


What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football’s loss at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee’s path to the College Football Playoff had been paved with cold-from-behind wins.

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On Saturday night at Ohio Stadium, the Vols didn’t have another comeback effort in them.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Hindered by an uncharacteristic performance from its typically reliable defense and injuries, No. 9 Tennessee fell behind three scores in the first half against No. 8 Ohio State and didn’t have the offense to make up for it, leading to a 42-17 defeat that ended its season.

The Vols (10-3) had been plagued by slow starts through the first half of the season, more often than not able to find enough life to win.

They did it against Florida, Alabama and Vanderbilt in the triumph that clinched their first-ever playoff berth.

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But that kind of start proved costly vs. the Buckeyes (11-2), who posted more than 430 yards of total offense and never came close to giving up their lead.

If there was any positive that could have been gleaned from Tennessee’s performance, it was quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Iamaleava, at times during those stagnant starts looked very much like a freshman quarterback trying to find his footing as a now full-time starter.

In the second half of the season, though Iamaleava was more poised and the Vols’ began flourish on that side of the ball.

Tennessee didn’t flourish in many areas on Saturday. What small doses of momentum they found almost always involved Iamaleava.

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He ran the ball 20 times for 47 yards, extending drive and rushing for both of the Vols’ only touchdowns.

Here is everything Iamaleava said about the performance.

On if he expected to run the ball 20 times 

“I mean, 20 (carries). No, I did not expect to run that many times. Some shots that were there, and overall as a team we didn’t just execute the whole game plan, so got to be better.”

On what disappointed him most about the performance 

“Just started off slow. We were supposed to come in, had a great game plan to come in and fire first, and they hit us in the mouth first. We were just trying to recover that whole game. First half I thought we did a great job of that, and second half coming in I thought we could have played at a way higher level than we did.”

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On what team can take away from loss

“I think just use it as motivation. We’ve been putting in work since January to get to this point, and it sucks to go out that way because that’s not who we are. love this team. I love the team we have. Just the way tonight went was not the way we wanted it to go, and we’ll use that as fuel and motivation during this off-season to really hit it.”

On what Tennessee needs to do to beat better teams on the road 

“I think that all just comes to executing on the road. Like I said, our coaches gave us a great game plan, and us as players, as the team, we’re the ones out there on the field playing, and we’ve just got to hold ourselves to a higher standard and execute at a higher level.”

On Dylan Sampson and Dont’e Thornton Jr. dealing with injuries, how it effected the game 

“Shoot, at the end of the day, man, whoever is out there, whether it’s a freshman or not, we’ve got to be able to execute the same way with those guys or not, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight.“

On the difference between running an offense at home and on the road 

“I would just say there’s a crowd noise that plays a factor in how we play. We can’t play as fast as we want to without tempo, and that’s really the biggest factor was crowd noise.”

On what personnel Tennessee can add to open up the offense 

“Obviously in the off-season, me, Coach Joey, and Coach Heup are always have conversations about how we can excel this offense, and it’ll be that in the off-season, too.”

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On large contingent of Tennessee fans that were at Ohio Stadium  

“I love it. Man, I was so happy to see all the orange in the stands. It sucks the performance we gave out for them, but I hope they get home safe, man. I really appreciate their support.”



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Ohio State Shows Major Resolve in CFP Win Over Tennessee

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Ohio State Shows Major Resolve in CFP Win Over Tennessee


The Ohio State Buckeyes’ loss to the Michigan Wolverines now feels like ages ago.

Ohio State went into its first-round College Football Playoff matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers with major question marks.

Will Howard was under fire. The play calling was in the crosshairs. Ryan Day’s job security had become a regular topic of discussion.

But then, the Buckeyes hammered Tennessee by a score of 42-17 to advance to the Rose Bowl for a chance for revenge against the Oregon Ducks.

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Ohio State put together arguably its best performance of the season against a very tough Tennessee opponent. The Buckeyes scored 21 points in the first quarter, immediately sending a message to the Volunteers—and the country—that they meant business.

Howard, who looked like a deer in headlights in the regular-season finale against Michigan, stepped up with a significant performance. Yes, there was the red zone interception, but in the end, it was no harm, no foul (he probably shouldn’t do that against Oregon, though).

Jeremiah Smith looked every bit of the phenom we all thought he was heading into 2024. The defense was tremendous. Day? He coached a terrific game.

But the most impressive part of this showing by Ohio State was the resolve that it demonstrated, picking itself up off the mat after a soul-crushing defeat to the Wolverines earlier in the month.

I have to admit: I wasn’t sure if the Buckeyes had this in them. Not after they mustered just 10 points against a far inferior Michigan opponent, a game in which they were physically beaten up.

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And considering that Tennessee’s defense was even stingier than Michigan’s this year, I certainly didn’t anticipate that Ohio State would drop 42 points.

Nevertheless, here we are.

A couple of weeks ago, it was beginning to look like the Buckeyes wouldn’t even have a chance against Oregon. Heck, there were some who felt that the Volunteers would beat them.

It wasn’t due to a lack of talent, either. It was more due to the thought that Ohio State lacked an identity and didn’t seem to have the mental fortitude required to win a national championship.

Remember: the Buckeyes also lost to the Ducks earlier in the season as a result of some mental erros and not being able to seal the deal.

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So the concerns surrounding Ohio State heading into the College Football Playoff were legitimate.

But the Buckeyes appear to have flipped a switch, and it appears that their tenacity has finally matched their excessive talent.

Now, we’ll see if Ohio State can exact revenge on Oregon in the Rose Bowl.



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