Guest commentary: For safe jobs, EV battery workers need a union contract

When a fire killed 23 workers at the South Korea Aricell lithium battery factory in June, the flames were so intense that authorities struggled to identify the bodies. The victims, many of them migrant workers, were part of a global supply chain rampant with environmental, labor and human rights violations.

As the electric vehicle battery industry ramps up in the U.S., we have to ask: How do we make sure battery jobs are safe jobs?

Dozens of citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to U.S. factories in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio for violations of federal safety guidelines suggest that not enough is being done to avert such a tragedy here. Because of inadequate training and mismanagement, workers have been exposed to fire and dangerous levels of lithium, hydrofluoric acid, cobalt, nickel and other deadly chemicals.

In Commerce, Ga., OSHA found the SK Battery plant (owned by South Korea’s SK Group) in violation of federal safety standards twice in less than a year “after workers suffered potentially permanent respiratory damage in an October 2023 battery fire.”

The similarities between these domestic operations and the factory in South Korea are stark. The industry’s safety record suggests that slow-moving regulatory agencies aren’t enough.

But we know what will save lives at EV battery factories: a union contract.

The early days of the automotive industry taught UAW members valuable lessons about the necessity of safety provisions in union contracts. Our contracts with the Detroit 3 ensure workers are involved in safety testing and have a right to refuse work when conditions are unsafe.

Fortunately, the UAW strike last year achieved transformative progress for the future of workplace safety with General Motors and Stellantis agreeing to include its battery plant workers in the union’s national labor agreement.

After lodging multiple safety complaints, workers at the Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio, formed the first EV battery union with the UAW. They came together because dangerous conditions led to poor productivity, high turnover and a loss of materials. Their story highlights how corporations struggle in the absence of worker input.

And in September, 1,000 workers at Ultium’s Spring Hill, Tenn., factory joined the UAW. From the South to the Midwest, battery workers are looking for a union contract that can ensure this industry doesn’t take the low road on health and safety, wages and benefits, or dignity on the job.

Union contracts save lives. Our agreements with SPARKZ, a lithium battery company in California, demonstrate how we’re leading the charge for safety. In collaboration with workforce development partners, the UAW is establishing the first registered battery apprenticeship program in the nation, a mentorship program for workers handling the hazardous materials required for battery production and a training program that will recruit a diverse and highly skilled workforce to the new industry.

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.