The UAW says that Toyota's 7,800-worker assembly complex in Georgetown, Kentucky, is among factories with the strongest interest in the union. Toyota has yet to comment.
The UAW drive will cover nearly 150,000 workers at factories largely in the South, where the union has had little success in recruiting new members.
The move comes after a six-week series of strikes at factories run by Ford, General Motors, and Jeep maker Stellantis that ended with new contracts. Under those deals, top assembly plant worker pay will rise 33% by the time the deals expire in April of 2028. The new contracts also ended some lower tiers of wages, gave raises to temporary workers, and shortened the time it takes for full-time workers to get to the top of the pay scale.
Kentucky has a so-called Right-to-Work law, which makes it illegal to require workers to join unions and bars the collection of fees from private-sector workers who choose not to become union members.
Quizzed on comments by UAW leaders signaling that the Toyota plant is expressing strong interest in unionizing following the union’s contract agreements with the big three automakers, Gov. Andy Beshear described himself as a “pro-union governor” but addressed both sides in positive terms.
"This will ultimately be decided, if it reaches a vote, by the workers within the facility, and they ought to have the right to make that decision," Beshear said. "I do want to compliment Toyota for having a very attractive wage and benefit package but certainly know that the UAW is out there committed to their members and their one goal is to create a better life for our auto workers."
Toyota announced it was raising pay in the wake of the UAW contract deals with Ford, GM, and Stellantis, but it’s yet to be seen whether those increases will persuade workers not to push forward with any efforts to unionize.
