Employees at a battery factory in Kentucky partly owned by Ford Motor appeared to have voted narrowly on Wednesday to be represented by the United Automobile Workers, but there were enough contested ballots to potentially change the result.
The vote was seen as a test of the U.A.W.’s campaign to organize in conservative states and exert influence in the expanding electric vehicle industry.
The factory, in Glendale, Ky., is jointly owned by Ford and SK On of South Korea. The venture, known as BlueOval SK, had campaigned intensely to block the union.
The vote was 526 for the union and 515 against. But the validity of another 41 ballots was challenged by the union, enough to swing the election the other way.
The union claimed victory late Wednesday, saying that the contested ballots were cast by employees ineligible to join the bargaining unit. “This is a major step forward for workers who stood up against intense company opposition and chose to join the U.A.W.,” the union said in a statement.
The contested ballots “are illegitimate and represent nothing more than an employer tactic to flood the unit and undermine the outcome,” the union said.
The National Labor Relations Board oversaw the election and its officials will determine whether the contested ballots will be counted. That potentially gives the Trump administration an opening to influence the outcome. The five-member board has been without a quorum and hindered in making major decisions since President Trump dismissed a Democratic member in January.
In a statement, BlueOval SK said it “will urge the board to count each eligible vote because every voice matters.”
The U.A.W. has been trying to organize car factories in Southern states, where much of the industry has migrated in recent decades. Its results have been mixed.
Last year workers at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., voted to unionize, but workers at two Mercedes factories in Alabama rejected an effort by the union to represent them.
The U.A.W. failed this month to win enough support from workers at a factory in Huntsville, Ala., that manufactures motors for International Motors, a truck maker controlled by Volkswagen.
Since the 1990s, automakers have built many of their newest factories in Georgia, Alabama and other Southern states, where local laws often make it harder for unions to organize and local political leaders actively campaign against them.
“The footprint has shifted from Michigan southward,” said Ian Greer, a professor at Cornell University who researches labor relations. “It’s a very challenging environment for the U.A.W.”
Automakers and suppliers have stepped up their investment in Southern states during the last few years as electric vehicles gained popularity. BlueOval SK, the joint venture that built the factory in Glendale, is an example. It began producing batteries this month for Ford F-150 Lightnings, an electric version of the company’s popular pickup. Investment in the complex will total $5.8 billion when it reaches full production, Ford has said.
The union has worked hard to get a foothold in the production of electric vehicles, which are expected to eventually dominate sales. Unionization drives have been successful at two factories operated by the battery manufacturer Ultium Cells, a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution, a South Korean company.
The Ultium factories are in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tenn., areas where the union has a history and is familiar to many people, Mr. Greer said. The Tennessee battery plant is next to a unionized factory that produces Cadillac cars, while Warren was the site of a large Chevrolet factory that closed in 2020.
The union faced tougher going in Kentucky, Mr. Greer said. Workers at Ford factories in Louisville are represented by the U.A.W., but workers at a huge manufacturing complex for Toyota Motor in Georgetown are not. Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, is a Democrat, but both of the state’s senators and five of its six U.S. representatives are Republicans.
The union argued that it could help the Kentucky workers win better pay and health care and improve safety at the Blue Oval plant. Starting pay at the Tennessee factory is $27.72 an hour, according to the union, about four dollars more than jobs advertised by BlueOval.
BlueOval countered with a website that included testimonials from workers who said they had worked at union jobs before and been disappointed. “The U.A.W. will only hold our team back,” Ben Gassman, the assistant plant manager, said in a statement.
Jack Ewing covers the auto industry for The Times, with an emphasis on electric vehicles.
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