Workers in Memphis, Tennessee have secured a first contract with Swedish home appliance giant Electrolux only nine months after first unionizing. The agreement guarantees pay raises and creates joint committees that give workers a voice in labor-management relations, safety and training.

Paul Shaffer is Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 474:

[Paul Shaffer]: “In the environment in the south and the traditional anti-union attitude and Tennessee being a right-to-work state it’s a huge victory, especially coming on the heels of the loss at Volkswagen in the Chattanooga area, where the Governor and U.S. Senators even weighed in on the issue to keep it from being unionized. This will show the workers in Tennessee and the rest of the south that it can be done and they can win a union election and win a fair contract.”

Shaffer credits solidarity from Swedish union IF Metall for contributing to their election and contract victories:

[Paul Shaffer]: “The local plant here engaged in a lot of the anti-union tactics that most American companies do, which really were in opposition to the global framework that Electrolux has for their employee relations and unionization. And the second time around the Swedish Union became involved. We feel like that played a big part in us winning the election. The fact that it only took us nine months to get a first contract…Electrolux representatives from day one said that their main goal was to reach an agreement and come to a first contract. So, there were no stall tactics, none of the usual tricks that companies play during negotiations.”