TENNESSEE Volkswagen workers have voted overwhelmingly to unionise following a campaign across the United States to address non-union plants.

In a landslide win, with over 83 per cent of workers taking part, 73 per cent voted for representation by the United Autoworkers Union (UAW).

It makes the Chattanooga factory the first non-union auto plant in the southern US to vote for unionisation since the 1940s, and the first international auto company to do so.

UAW president Shawn Fain had committed to spending $40 million (£32m) on organising in the auto sector by 2026.

Following the ballot, he said: “You all have just done the most important thing a working-class person can do, and that is stand up.

“You guys will lead the way. We will carry this fight on to Mercedes and everywhere else.”

More than 30 per cent of employees at a Hyundai in Alabama and a Toyota auto parts factory in Missouri have signed union cards indicating they want to join the UAW.