By Nora Eckert
DETROIT (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers union is petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election at a Ford Motor (NYSE:) joint-venture battery plant in Kentucky, the union said in a release Wednesday.
The BlueOval SK plant, owned by a partnership of South Korea’s SK On and Ford, is the latest battery battleground for the union as it seeks to grow its decreasing membership and secure jobs as the industry electrifies.
UAW President Shawn Fain has sought to expand on a historic win last year at a Volkswagen (ETR:) plant in Tennessee. The labor group hasn’t won a significant vote since, suffering a defeat at a Mercedes plant in Alabama in May.
The UAW invested $40 million last year to organize non-union automakers across the United States, a push that included companies such as Tesla (NASDAQ:) and Toyota (NYSE:).
Battery plants partly owned by Detroit’s automakers were a major sticking point…
