Workers trying to unionise Rivian‘s EV plant in Normal, Illinois, say the United Auto Workers (UAW) has withdrawn its on-the-ground support for the effort, leaving a once-active organising campaign at a standstill.
The Normal plant has a union history as it operated as a UAW-represented facility for decades under Mitsubishi, which built vehicles there until the closure in 2015.
The shutdown costed nearly 1,300 jobs at a plant that had produced as many as 200,000 vehicles a year at its peak.
Two years after the closure, Rivian acquired it.
The EV maker said this week that it produced 10,236 vehicles and delivered 10,365 in the first quarter of 2026 seeing demand stabilizing after the expiration of the $7,500 EV Tax Credit and ahead of the very first R2 deliveries.
The voluntary organising committee at the plant — which once had around 50 members — has shrunk to roughly 10, according to VOC members Renee Leonard and Jeff Schaefer told WGLT.
“Most everybody’s pretty much given up,” Schaefer said.
The UAW did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the outlet.
Rivian said it is “focused on maintaining a culture where we respect, communicate with, and reward our employees as individuals.”
What Changed
Leonard and Schaefer said the UAW’s posture shifted after Bloomberg reported in late 2024 that Rivian had reached a confidential neutrality agreement with the union. Under the deal, the EV maker agreed to adopt a neutral stance toward organising efforts — but only once the company meets unspecified profitability targets.
The terms have never been made public.
The agreement reportedly helped Rivian secure a conditional $6.6 billion loan from the US Department of Energy to fund construction of a second plant in Georgia, after the company’s hostile relationship with the UAW became a sticking point with the pro-labour Biden administration, according to Bloomberg.
Since the deal was reported, the UAW has withdrawn the multiple staff representatives it previously had stationed in Bloomington-Normal, and the union’s local office has gone quiet, the workers said.
Quarterly meetings that were supposed to be held between the UAW and Rivian to discuss plant issues have taken place only twice in the past year, they claimed, and none have involved workers from the proposed bargaining unit.
Worker Concerns
The workers said their top concerns are not about pay.
Surveys conducted by the organising committee showed that work-life balance, safety, and on-the-job harassment rank as the biggest issues.
“Money’s not in the Top 5,” Leonard said. “I want a say in what goes on in my work life and my home life. Right now, I don’t have any of that. They can change your schedule. They can do whatever they want because I don’t have a seat at the table.”
A 2024 Bloomberg investigation documented serious safety incidents at the Normal plant, including a cracked skull, broken bones, and an amputated finger.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration had cited Rivian for more “serious” safety violations than any other US automaker — despite the company operating just one factory.
The National Labor Relations Board separately investigated UAW allegations of illegal threats, retaliation, and surveillance by Rivian management at the plant.
The UAW’s official Rivian organising page remains active, featuring a “Stand Up Sit Down Committee” focused on health and safety and comparing UAW Big Three contract terms to Rivian‘s non-union conditions.
Other Options
Schaefer said he has reached out to other unions — including the Laborers — to explore whether workers could organise under a different banner.
But other unions have declined to get involved while the UAW’s campaign is still technically active.
Jason Pascal, president of the Bloomington and Normal Trades & Labor Assembly, confirmed the jurisdictional barrier to WGLT.
“No union is going to go against another union if they’ve already begun an organizing campaign,” Pascal said. “It would take them saying no, we’re no longer interested before someone would step in.”
Leonard said the UAW would need to provide a formal letter releasing workers before another union could step in.
“We need protection. And if they don’t want to do it, get out of our way,” Schaefer said. “We can’t wait 10 years. We need it now.”
Profitability
The profitability condition in the neutrality agreement remains the central obstacle.
Rivian posted its first full-year gross profit in 2025 — $144 million, a $1.3 billion improvement from the prior year — driven by higher average selling prices, lower per-vehicle costs, and $576 million in software and services revenue from the Volkswagen joint venture.
However, it is unclear whether gross profitability satisfies the terms of the unpublished agreement, which Bloomberg described as tied to broader “profitability metrics.”
Rivian stopped publicly disclosing how many people work at the Normal plant last year, without explaining why.
The lack of transparency has made it impossible for organisers to determine how close they are to the 30% threshold needed to trigger an NLRB election, Leonard and Schaefer said.
Production Context
The organising impasse comes at a pivotal moment for the Normal facility.
The company produced 10,236 vehicles at the Normal plant in the first quarter of 2026 while delivering 10,365 in the first quarter of 2026.
Rivian reaffirmed full-year guidance of 62,000 to 67,000 deliveries — a target that implies a 47% to 59% increase over 2025 and depends heavily on the R2, which is expected to begin rolling off the same production line in the coming weeks.
Once R2 production ramps, Rivian has said the Normal plant’s annual capacity will reach approximately 215,000 vehicles.
An $827 million Illinois state incentive package tied to R2 production requires Rivian to maintain operations in Normal for at least 15 years, add 559 new jobs, and retain a minimum of 6,000 employees.
Production workers must be paid at least 120% of the average wage for comparable jobs in McLean County — currently approximately $44,300 per year, or roughly $21 per hour.
That figure is well below the $36-plus hourly rate that UAW members at the Big Three automakers earn under contracts negotiated in 2023.
Georgia on the Horizon
Rivian is also preparing to build a second manufacturing facility near Social Circle, Georgia, approximately 45 miles east of Atlanta.
The company held a formal groundbreaking in September, with construction expected to begin this year and customer vehicle production anticipated in 2028.
The Georgia plant will produce the R2 and R3 crossover across two phases, with a combined annual capacity of up to 400,000 vehicles.
Rivian has committed to investing $5 billion and employing 7,500 workers at an average salary of $56,000 by the end of 2028, with those levels maintained through 2047.
Georgia offered approximately $1.5 billion in incentives.
The DOE closed on the $6.57 billion conditional loan for the project in January 2025. Clayco, the Chicago-based contractor, was selected as the general contractor.
“If any of our employees decide to join or seek recognition to form a labor union,” Rivian disclosed in a SEC filing, “we could be subject to risks, including substantial distraction from our business, potential work slowdowns or stoppages, delays and increased human capital related costs.”
