Introduction and summary
BlueOval City, the electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility under construction in Stanton, Tennessee, demonstrates the potential for the Biden administration’s economic policies to create good union jobs and promote development in regions of the country that have long been ignored.1 The project shows that the administration’s economic policies can work as planned, with public incentives encouraging major new investments by private companies that create good union jobs.
The project also highlights questions about long-term job quality once the facility is operational as well as who will be credited for the impact. The answers to these questions could affect the ultimate evaluation of the project and the policies that made it possible.
Anecdotal interviews recently conducted by the Center for American Progress found that construction workers at the site “love” their “life-changing” jobs.2 Working under a project labor agreement (PLA) that ensures union-scale wages and benefits and promotes apprenticeship helped workers go from financial precarity to economic stability—from paying bills “half this week and half the next week” to meeting their financial obligations fully and being able to afford a vacation and even buy a home.3
Yet workers are unsure how public policy has affected the project and contributed to the turnaround in their lives. Workers interviewed primarily credit Ford Motor Co. for BlueOval City—“they spent the money,” one said. BlueOval City was chosen to receive a substantial federal loan from the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA),4 along with significant subsidies from the state of Tennessee.5
Because construction of BlueOval City is further along than many of the thousands of other private projects encouraged by the IIJA, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act,6 it can shed light on what to expect going forward around the country. While there are limits to generalizing from any particular project, the core insights from BlueOval City are likely to be relevant to many projects that are part of the boom in manufacturing construction.7
It is not surprising that BlueOval City is creating good construction jobs. PLAs, and related policies such as prevailing wage requirements, are critical components of the Biden administration’s economic vision and have a proven record of delivering high standards for workers and project sponsors.8 The administration must continue working to promote the highest job quality standards on all federally subsidized construction projects.9
Similarly, questions about manufacturing-job quality and community involvement at BlueOval City should be considered more broadly. The recent collective bargaining agreement of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union suggests there is a path for the planned manufacturing jobs at BlueOval City and other facilities to be good union jobs, but the process could be contentious.10 Likewise, local residents are seeking to negotiate a legally binding community benefits agreement with BlueOval City—a tool more commonly used for sports stadium developments—to ensure, for example, road maintenance support and proper waste disposal.11 Policymakers should support unionization efforts to promote manufacturing job quality, along with efforts to negotiate community benefits agreements with companies.
Finally, it is difficult for workers to perceive the loans, grants, and tax subsidies that encourage privately led projects such as BlueOval City. Indeed, no matter where a project is located, it is more challenging to connect private projects to public policies than with traditional government-led infrastructure projects.
The administration should continue supporting unions because of all the gains they provide for workers and also because their policy education efforts are key to helping union members understand the impact of policy decisions on their lives. Unions have a proven record of educating workers, and workers often see unions as trusted providers of information.12
Notably, the types of policies that facilitated BlueOval City could go away: On numerous occasions, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to repeal tax incentives encouraging similar types of projects13 and has sought to overturn policies supporting workers’ rights.14 In addition, the state of Tennessee passed a law making it more difficult for workers to unionize on state-subsidized projects.15
Policymakers must do more to ensure that publicly supported projects produce good union jobs, particularly during manufacturing. Similarly, policymakers and unions should do more to ensure that the workers, families, and communities benefiting in numerous ways from projects such as BlueOval City understand the public policies supporting and affecting those projects.
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BlueOval City project overview
The largely rural region surrounding BlueOval City has a low median family income compared with the state and experiences high levels of poverty—particularly in Haywood County, where the project is located.16 Haywood County had a poverty rate of more than 20 percent during the 2017–2021 period.17 The region also has a disproportionately large African American population.18
Before BlueOval City, long-standing efforts to induce economic development in the region failed. Indeed, Tennessee lawmakers spent more than $200 million19 over the previous two decades20 to attract major economic development to the area now known as the Memphis Regional Megasite (MRM). Boosters even toured eight Asian cities to pitch the site to various automobile manufacturers.21 The Tennessee Department of General Services released a report in summer 2021 stating that the area had lost out on 18 separate opportunities.22
Things took a turn just a few months later, in September 2021, when Ford announced the selection of the site of a new carbon-neutral electric vehicle manufacturing facility, a supplier park, and a recycling facility, along with an EV battery plant that will be operated in partnership with South Korean EV battery producer SK On through a joint venture called BlueOval SK.23 The new campus, named BlueOval City, would be built with a $5.6 billion investment, with the goal of starting battery production in 2025.24 The project is part of Ford’s larger effort that includes using a $5.8 billion investment from BlueOval SK to create two battery plants in Kentucky.25
Ford CEO Jim Farley said two main reasons why the MRM was chosen were the low cost of energy and the availability of an undeveloped site free of environmental problems.26 Still, public policy likely played a role in the selection of the MRM as well. When Ford made its announcement, the IIJA—which contains several provisions supporting the transition to electric vehicles—was poised to be signed into law. After lengthy negotiations, the bill passed the Senate on August 10, 2021, and ultimately became law in November.27 Moreover, additional incentives for the transition to EVs were included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the outlines of which the Biden administration was pushing in 2021.28
Following Ford’s announcement, the state of Tennessee also approved an incentive package worth $884 million in October 2021.29 At the time, the package was the single-largest government investment in the state’s history.30
Early signs of success
The project has already hired thousands of workers, working under a project labor agreement that ensures union-scale wages and benefits and promotes apprenticeship. Town leaders are upbeat about the future.31 So too are local construction unions, some of which are considering new branches to manage the expected growth—something quite rare over recent decades anywhere in the United States, but especially in the South.32
Ford chose Walbridge as the lead contractor and elected to perform the work under a PLA.33 PLAs are legally binding contracts that are negotiated pre-hire between workers and the entity responsible for project management.34 PLAs help address major construction projects’ complexity by creating standards and mechanisms to address disputes and prevent work from being interrupted. These agreements address compensation rates, working hours, dispute resolution mechanisms, the prevention of strikes and lockouts, and apprentice utilization. PLAs have proved to be an effective tool in ensuring that workers have baseline protections in place without the risk of costly work stoppages, and the Biden administration has encouraged the use of them in projects funded by federal dollars.35
The presence of an existing PLA for the construction labor may have helped the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in deciding to grant, in June 2023, a $9.2 billion loan to support the Ford and SK On partnership’s Tennessee and Kentucky battery plants; at that point, it was the largest loan the agency had ever announced.36 The DOE loan grants access to capital with more favorable terms than what could be found in the private loan market and enables the department to support the success of a project that is in alignment with the administration’s goals to strengthen domestic manufacturing in clean energy technologies and direct investments in clean energy toward disadvantaged communities.37 Final approval of the loan requires adherence to labor standards such as prevailing wage requirements as well as an evaluation of the project’s community benefits plan, which includes community, labor, and stakeholder engagement and an explanation of how the project will support job quality and equity.38
Preliminary site work for the BlueOval City project began in March 2022, with construction officially starting in September 2023.39 The initial results from the first 18 months of construction have been remarkable. Approximately 3,000 workers are on-site, according to Ethan Link of the Southeast Laborers’ District Council, with 6,000 construction workers eventually expected.40 Local workers receive training to develop skills necessary for construction jobs, and they appreciate the pay, benefits, safety, and stability of union work. Construction union leaders are also excited about their ability to recruit new members.
The community is also poised to benefit significantly. According to state estimates, 27,000 new jobs are expected to result directly or indirectly from BlueOval City.41 Similarly, the projected number of residents living in West Tennessee by 2045 is expected to increase by 7.5 percentage points, representing roughly 116,000 additional people who may call this area home.42
Since much of the initial work has been done by laborers represented by the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), a close look at their experiences is instructive, though other unions on-site share similar stories.
The LiUNA Local 386 construction union has been working on recruiting and training laborers for a massive project on an aggressive timeline in a region that has relatively few sufficiently trained workers available. Noel Sherman of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 474 also noted the challenges of recruiting the workforce, saying that “it is a good problem to have”43 because it indicates the strong demand for skilled workers and means work for members. For LiUNA, this has required a multilayered approach to marketing, from engaging with the local community through job fairs and partner referrals to launching a digital ad campaign.44 The union has also provided training in a range of skills, including safety, flagging, rigging, pipelaying, and concrete laying.45
The union estimates that 89 percent of those hired through its efforts are from the local West Tennessee region and 38 percent are from Haywood County.46
According to Link, most laborers on site self-reported that they were previously making $15 to $17 per hour.47 Now they make $21 per hour, plus benefits and overtime. Sherman notes that electricians on the project are making $31.75 per hour, plus health, retirement, and other benefits.48 According to Will Cardenas, “You can feel the prosperity in the air.” Cardenas is on-site with the Southeast Laborers’ District Council, adding that people started their jobs with debt, and “now they are in the green.”49
You can feel the prosperity in the air.
Will Cardenas, Southeast Laborers’ District Council
The authors of this report spoke with several workers employed at BlueOval City in fall 2023. These informal conversations illustrate just how important these jobs are and how appreciative the workers are for them and the union’s support.
Kenny Gibbs, a new LiUNA member working on-site since 2022, said that this is the “best-paying job in this area; you can’t beat it.”50 Through the union, he received training in several critical areas, including concrete installation and safety, and is proud of the training and certifications he has completed. He says he has found his “passion” and added, “I love my job.”
Antonia Watson, from “right up the road about 10 miles,” says working housekeeping in the trailers that provide temporary offices and storage at BlueOval is the “best move I ever made,” especially because “there is nothing else nearby.”51 The pay and the benefits have been life-changing, she says. “I don’t have to worry is my paycheck going to be enough,” she said, adding that this is the first time she has felt she had enough money to open a bank account. The job stability, solid paycheck, and good benefits mean she has greater financial control. “I’m not getting rich but if I keep working hard, I know can do this, save this, make a plan,” she said. Indeed, Watson noted that she had been hoping to purchase a home for more than four years, but everything was out of her price range; now, however, she is in the process of buying the home she has been renting.
Josh Walker, a new LiUNA member working on-site since 2022, explained that the job is the “best thing going” because of the good pay and the ability to see a building go from “nothing to something.”52 The union job “changed my life,” he said. “I can pay my bills. I’m not paying half this week and half the next week, but all of my bills. And I can do stuff with my kids like take a vacation.”
I can pay my bills. I’m not paying half this week and half the next week, but all of my bills. And I can do stuff with my kids like take a vacation.
Josh Walker, LiUNA member
Workers are doing well, and their unions are recruiting new members and growing. LiUNA’s Link notes that, “We’d only been closing unions in the South, but BlueOval may produce the chartering of new unions.”53 His colleague Cardenas said that at one time, LiUNA had three local chapters in the region and is now creating a new chapter for the first time in a long time.54 He explained that most of the LiUNA workers at BlueOval City are formerly nonunion. The project labor agreement, with its union pay scales and apprenticeship requirements, has made it easier to recruit workers at BlueOval into the union. In addition, more than 40 contractors are on-site, and many had never had union labor before. Cardenas said that as these companies grow or seek work at other sites, it could be an opportunity for the union to continue providing skilled workers to these companies: “If we do good for them now, we hope to do work with them in future.” Sherman said that the IBEW has added 500 new members from the project.55
To be sure, not everything about the project is unambiguously good. Some local farmers in the region, who are disproportionately Black, reported that the offers they received from the state to sell their land for road construction are a fraction of the price of nearby vacant lots on the market.56 Additionally, housing prices have been increasing and are expected to keep rising, putting some current residents at risk of being priced out of the area as more people are projected to move in.57 Transportation infrastructure will also likely need to be addressed, as local governments may have to consider ways to cut down on increases in traffic.58 Community members, led by Tennessee For All, are seeking to negotiate a legally binding community benefits agreement with Ford to address concerns about the environment and housing and ensure a pipeline into the project’s jobs.59
Still, the early evidence strongly suggests that the overall impact on West Tennessee communities will be positive. The project is on track to provide transformative growth to the region and shows that economic, environmental, and labor interests can align to set up entire local economies for success. The construction labor on the Haywood County site is bolstering the economy ahead of the opening of the official BlueOval campus, due in significant part to the project labor agreement.60 In short, a large electric vehicle facility with a PLA encouraged by Biden administration policies has been a great success, particularly for the workers building the facility.
Concerns going forward
While there has been much good news from the project, the initial stages have highlighted several unresolved questions that could affect future evaluations.
Job quality and unionization
As good as the construction jobs at BlueOval have been, there needs to be more certainty about the pay and benefits for the workers who will operate the facilities once production has begun, as well as whether those jobs will be unionized. Pay at many nonunion electric vehicle facilities is quite low, and the work is dangerous.61 Indeed, production workers at Ultium Cells—a joint venture between GM and LG near Lordstown, Ohio—initially made $16.50 per hour but then unionized and now, under a new union contract, will receive more than $30 per hour over the course of the deal.62 BlueOval City’s project labor agreement, as well as prevailing wage requirements, only cover laborers employed during construction, alteration, or repair, not those employed during manufacturing.63 Further, Tennessee has passed policies to make unionizing workers more difficult.64
While questions about the quality of future jobs at BlueOval may hinge on specifics unique to the project, the questions raised are more broadly applicable. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act include strong job quality standards for most construction jobs but few, if any, standards for manufacturing.65 Similarly, many projects are in regions historically hostile to union organizing66 and involve some state support, highlighting the complex interplay between federal and state policy and politics that can ultimately shape job quality.
A path exists for the manufacturing jobs at BlueOval City to be good union jobs, thanks to efforts from the United Auto Workers union during its 2023 strike, though the road to get there has been and will continue to be hard fought. The six-week strike ended in October when a tentative agreement for a new contract, to last through April 2028, was reached; Ford employees approved it in November.67
Workers at Ford’s EV assembly plant in BlueOval City would be included in this master agreement should enough UAW members from other facilities transfer to the plant or if enough workers show support for unionization during a card check process.68 The agreement does not currently cover the joint venture battery plants with SK On in Tennessee and Kentucky.69 Still, UAW plans to work toward getting the plants unionized once they are up and running to protect workers from the low wages and poor working conditions prevalent throughout much of the EV industry.70
Ford has maintained that the future employees will be free to unionize.71 However, UAW President Shawn Fain thinks the process could be complicated and get “ugly,” especially compared with the process negotiated with GM and Stellantis, which have both already agreed to allow their joint-venture battery plants to be covered by the new deal.72 Tennessee labor policies could also encourage a contentious process for workers seeking to unionize. For example, Tennessee passed a law in May 2023 that prevents any company that voluntarily recognizes unions through a card check process from receiving state-funded incentives like the ones provided to Ford; the law also prohibits unions from enrolling members and creating a collective bargaining unit without a secret ballot election.73 This is a more complex and time-consuming method of forming a union compared with a card check process and offers more opportunities for employer intimidation to play a role in making the effort fail.74 The law went into effect in July 2023 so does not apply to BlueOval City’s incentive package passed in 2021,75 but it will make future union organizing in the state more difficult. Other employers expanding in Tennessee—including those spurred by the growth of BlueOval City—would, if they received state subsidies, be required to force workers who wish to unionize through a more arduous process. Similarly, if Ford seeks additional state subsidies, its current stance toward unionization may need to change.
Ensuring that the role of public policy is understood
Although significant political science research backs the idea that voters are likely to reward politicians for supporting economically successful projects such as BlueOval City, a closer look at how the workers on that site currently think suggests that significant voter education will be necessary for politicians to be recognized for their role in the realization of this project.76 Unions are likely to be especially important players in this effort.
People commonly reward politicians who improve their personal finances and support projects that benefit the community.77 Some of this support may come simply from workers who are affected by projects generally feeling better about their prospects. Still, voters are more likely to reward politicians if they connect their own well-being with policy choices. For example, studies show that voters who lived near highway signs indicating that repair work was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were more likely to support President Barack Obama’s reelection.78
Yet the origin of privately led projects such as BlueOval City is more complicated than that of a typical government-led highway project. There are no government signs at the project noting the Biden administration’s policies, for example, and the impacts of tax credits, loans, and other subsidies on private corporations may not be immediately apparent to workers.79
Not surprisingly, a theme running through the author interviews with BlueOval workers is uncertainty about who to credit for the project and the good jobs created. Almost all the workers interviewed thought that Ford was most or exclusively responsible for the project, though most workers also credited their union as a significant player. Only after the authors asked workers about whether any government officials contributed to the project did they mention the governor, state and local leaders, and President Biden. Without additional prompting, workers also did not readily discuss policies that could affect job quality, such as project labor agreements or state legislators’ efforts to make unionization more difficult.
While Ford and unions deserve significant credit for the project and the PLA, especially for pursuing such a union-friendly policy in Tennessee, elected officials also helped, and whether their efforts will be seen remains an open question. In short, most workers are inclined to support everyone associated with the project yet likely to need additional education to understand the role that politicians who supported it played as well as to tease out the impact of the PLA that ensures high-quality union jobs.
One worker credited Ford the most, followed by the union and the town’s mayor. He added that he didn’t know if other politicians had anything to do with the project, but “if they did, I’d support them.”80 Another worker said it was a “tough one” to assign credit, but Ford “spent the money” so is primarily responsible. He also thanked the politicians involved: “All of them that had something to do with the project deserve credit.” Still another credited “first of all Ford because they brought in the business.” Several workers described the governor and President Biden as helpful to the project, though like all interviewees, they did so only after prompting from the authors. While most workers were favorable toward elected officials they believed to be involved in the project, some workers were unsure if the involvement would affect their vote; one worker said that they were “really not into politicians” because they have “reneged on lots of things.”
As a result, politicians and supportive organizations have work to do in order to build public understanding and trust.
The role that unions play in translating policy for workers is vital. Research shows that unions can act as trusted intermediaries, helping explain the impact of complex policies and helping identify politicians and their pro-worker policies.81 In addition to encouraging workers to focus on economic issues and support pro-worker policies, unions help increase voter turnout—amplifying their persuasion efforts.82 Politicians can also help people make connections between policies and favorable outcomes. Indeed, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) and several other state elected officials have been highlighting their help for the BlueOval project.83 Yet workers may not always be so receptive to direct appeals from politicians, especially those who are not from their political party.84
Union leaders involved with BlueOval City emphasized the need to educate their members about the politicians and policies involved in supporting the project. Political education is part of union orientations, training, and general meetings—and the unions plan to increase their political education efforts, particularly through member-to-member outreach.85 As IBEW’s Sherman noted, “It is very important to do education so workers can make better decisions.”86
It is very important to do education so workers can make better decisions.
Noel Sherman, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
The different unions generally have a similar political message that emphasizes the importance of “voting for people that support working people,” as LiUNA’s Cardenas explained.87 Their message highlights President Biden’s policy support for BlueOval City and its high labor standards, as well as the state Republican elected officials who helped secure funding for the project. Said LiUNA’s Link, “We explain that this is a Biden administration project and a Tennessee state legislature project.” Union leaders also emphasized their goal to communicate to members that President Biden is the “most pro-union President” in recent history.88
Ultimately, the union leaders expect their political message to influence a significant percentage of their members. However, not every member is receptive to the unions’ political message, as some prioritize other issues89 but there are persuadable workers. “It will take time” to educate members, noted Sherman. He said the effort must be ongoing to have maximum impact, including increased voter participation. Cardenas said he was “sure” LiUNA’s efforts will increase turnout, noting that much of the union’s education addresses voter participation issues and explores “why members don’t vote, why they don’t feel part of society.”90
The combined impacts of economic change, political education, and increased participation can be significant. Indeed, Link believes that the potential of BlueOval City may be “similar” to that of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which shaped the economy for and the political leanings of generations of Tennessee citizens.91
Conclusion
BlueOval City is in many ways on track to be a great success, creating good union jobs that are transforming the lives of workers and the regional economy in a long-overlooked area. Local workers are benefiting from the project labor agreement that ensures good wages and benefits and a path to join a union, in a region where these job-quality attributes have been all too scarce. The initial findings of this report highlight the potential of the Biden administration’s economic policies. Still, the early stages of the project raise some questions that could shape long-term evaluation of the policies. Policymakers must do more to ensure that publicly supported projects produce good union jobs, particularly during manufacturing. Similarly, policymakers and unions must do more to ensure that project beneficiaries understand the impact of supporting public policies.