Electric vehicles are coming, and the reinvention of the U.S. auto industry holds great potential for the economy and the climate. But realizing this potential will require proactive, pro-worker policies at federal, state, and local levels. Will we ensure that massive expansion of electric vehicle manufacturing results in family-supporting jobs that revitalize regional economies, reverse economic inequality, and close racial and gender wage gaps? Or will we allow highly profitable, anti-union employers to use public investments to deny workers’ rights and continue eroding job standards?

A new report from EPI Research Associate Gordon Lafer documents the legal and illegal tactics automakers routinely use to block workers from forming unions, and what’s urgently needed at this moment to curb these anti-democratic, anti-worker trends across the industry. The event featured report highlights and a discussion of the implications for labor, racial, and climate justice with panelists from the Sierra Club, United Auto Workers union, and EPI.

Speakers included auto workers who’ve been part of recent organizing campaigns in Southern and Midwestern states, sharing their first-hand experiences with anti-union tactics of major automakers.