--- title: Ford’s $5.6 billion EV plant in Tennessee will be all union description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. John Williams of SMART Local 4 joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/SMART.jpg --- 1 min read Season 3, Episode 130 # Ford’s $5.6 billion EV plant in Tennessee will be all union [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) July 5, 2022 [Local Union](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/local-union) [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [Jobs](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/jobs) [SMART](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/smart) ![SMART Local 4](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SMART%20Local%204.jpg?width=400&name=SMART%20Local%204.jpg)   Guest Name: --- John Williams Guest Website: --- [www.smartunion4.org](https://www.smartunion4.org/) Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sheetmetalmemphis) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/SMARTLocal4) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/SMARTUnion) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/iasmart) Supportive Documents: --- John Williams, Business Manager of the [Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation (SMART) Union Local 4](https://www.smartunion4.org/), joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed Ford Motor Co.’s $5.6 billion electric vehicle plant, which is being built in Western Tennessee, and its impact on his Local.  Local 4 serves 350 members in Tennessee. The plant will employ all union workers, including 3,000 tradesmen and tradeswomen onsite.  Roughly 300 to 400 of those will be sheet metal workers. Williams explained how Ford insisted all work be union despite Tennessee being a So-Called “Right to Work” state. Ford considered the use of non-union workers to be a deal breaker. Williams also spoke about how some of the $350 billion in federal COVID-19 aid through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) can be used to improve ventilation in public buildings.  Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics. --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) #### [AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) : July 3, 2026 # AFL-CIO's Fred Redmond on the Convention, AI and America at 250 Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the [AFL-CIO](https://awf.labortools.com/), joined the [America's Work Force...](https://awf.labortools.com/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/afl-cios-fred-redmond-on-the-convention-ai-and-america-at-250) #### [C/COBCTC's Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Growth](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) : July 2, 2026 # Dorsey Hager on Drones, Data Centers and Central Ohio's Building Boom Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the [Columbus/Central Ohio...](https://columbusconstruction.org/) [Read More](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/c/cobctcs-dorsey-hager-on-drones-data-centers-and-growth) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "awfblog", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog" }, "dateModified" : "2022-07-05T20:31:18.782Z", "datePublished" : "2022-07-05T20:31:18.000Z", "headline" : "Ford’s $5.6 billion EV plant in Tennessee will be all union", "image" : [ "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/SMART.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://awf.labortools.com/listen/fords-5.6-billion-electric-vehicle-plant-in-tennessee-will-be-all-union", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/labor-tools-logo-white.png" }, "name" : "BMA Media" } } ```