Workers in Tennessee have made history. On Thursday, the United Auto Workers announced that it had finally reached a tentative agreement with management at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which unionized in 2024. If the workers approve the deal, it’ll be the first union contract outside the Big Three auto manufacturers in a Southern state.

Auto companies, especially foreign manufacturers, have been moving operations to Southern states for decades, far away from union strongholds in the Rust Belt, where wages were higher and labor laws were stronger. Unions have been struggling to find a foothold in the South for decades. But if the 3,200 shop workers in Chattanooga vote to ratify the contract, it will help unions gain a stronger foothold there.

With the Trump administration dismantling labor protections, getting to this point was an uphill battle. “I think their struggle has also illustrated some of the existing, very persistent flaws in our labor law system,” said Jennifer Sherer, who directs the Worker Power........

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