GM Ultium Cells LLC Spring Hill Plant Workers Approve First Union Contract

Workers at the Ultium Cells Spring Hill plant in Tennessee have voted to ratify their first agreement between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ultium. The battery factory is represented by UAW Local 1853, the same union that represents the GM Spring Hill manufacturing facility that produces Cadillac crossovers and the BEV3-based Acura ZDX.

“Building EV batteries is just as risky as working with combustion engines, and these workers deserve the best wages, health care, and safety protections as they have in the Big Three,” UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith said. “Ultium workers stood strong and won their fight.”

Although the Ultium Spring Hill plant produces battery packs for GM (and Honda/Acura) EVs, including the ones assembled right across the street at Spring Hill Manufacturing, its workers are not General Motors employees. Their employer is Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture of GM and LG Energy Solution.

“Ultium workers are setting the bar for Southern workers and charting a brighter future. From Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, folks in these new EV plants know they deserve fair pay and benefits, just like union workers before them,” Smith continued. “And you can bet the UAW is going to stand with them to make sure they get their fair share and a collective voice on the job.”

In other recent Ultium Cells news, LG Energy Solution is teaming up with Toyota to use the former Ultium Lansing battery plant to build high-nickel NCMA battery modules for the Japanese automaker’s future electric models. The goal is for the brand’s EVs built in the USA to use the batteries produced at this facility.

This news came following GM selling its stake in the Ultium Cells battery plant in Michigan. The sale didn’t affect GM’s ownership interest in the Ultium Cells LLC joint venture with LG Energy Solution. In addition to Spring Hill, GM is continuing to source EV batteries from the Ultium battery production facility in Warren, Ohio.