CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee, April 20 (Reuters) - Workers at

Volkswagen's Tennessee plant have voted to join the

United Auto Workers, in a seismic victory for the union as it

drives beyond its Detroit base into the U.S. South and West.

A majority of eligible workers cast ballots in favor of the

union, with the final tally on Friday at 2,628 to 985, or 73%

for joining the UAW.

The landslide win will make the Chattanooga factory the

first auto plant in the South to unionize via election since the

1940s and the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to do

so.

It is also a huge shot in the arm for UAW President Shawn

Fain's campaign to unionize plants owned by more than a dozen

automakers across the U.S., including Tesla. Fain,

known for his aggressive bargaining tactics, and his team have

committed to spending $40 million through 2026 on the effort.

Jubilant workers, some in tears, raised their arms in

victory and held aloft "Union Yes" posters as the final tally

came in.

"I'm exhilarated that we actually accomplished what we set

out to accomplish," said VW employee Lisa Elliott as she hugged

her coworkers. "Tell Mercedes they're next," she cheered.

A Mercedes plant in Alabama, at which a majority

of workers have signed cards indicating they support

unionization, will be the next facility to hold a UAW election,

during the week of May 13.

"You all have just done the most important thing a working

class person can do, and that is stand up," Fain told workers at

the count watch party.

"You guys will lead the way. We will carry this fight on to

Mercedes and everywhere else," he added.

Although the UAW narrowly lost votes at the same plant in

2014 and 2019, this year's vote was preceded by surging public

support for unions and successful contract negotiations last

year with the Big Three automakers.

"The margin is overwhelming," said Harley Shaiken, professor

of labor at the University of California, Berkeley. "This is a

historic moment."

VW took a neutral position on the vote at its only non-union

factory globally. The UAW has previously represented VW workers

at a Pennsylvania plant that built Rabbit cars before it closed

in 1988.

The UAW - which has seen its membership fall as Detroit

automakers restructured - has for decades struck out at southern

auto plants, where anti-union sentiment has long been

entrenched. Earlier this week Republican governors in six

southern states including Tennessee spoke out in opposition to

the union drive.

In addition to the two narrow losses at VW previously, the

UAW sustained three more significant misses at southern

factories owned by Nissan ( NSANF ), the last in 2017 in

Mississippi.

But the broader labor movement has since gone through

somewhat of a renaissance, with a record number of workers

across various industries going on strike last year.

Last autumn U.S. President Joe Biden walked picket lines

outside Detroit, where the union scored double-digit percentage

raises as well as cost-of-living increases from General Motors ( GM )

, Ford Motor ( F ) and Stellantis ( STLA ). That sparked

a wave of hikes by non-union automakers that some analysts said

were designed to keep out unions.

Biden rebuked the Republican governors after the vote,

citing several union victories in recent months.

"These union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate

once again that the middle-class built America and that unions

are still building and expanding the middle class for all

workers," he said in a statement.

In addition to the Mercedes plant, the UAW has said that

more than 30% of employees at a Hyundai plant in

Alabama and at a Missouri Toyota auto parts factory

have signed cards indicating they want to join the UAW.

Pro-union workers at the VW plant say they have campaigned

to secure improved safety on the job, better work-life balance

and improved benefits.

"Now that it's official I can relax," said Robert Crump, who

has worked at VW for 12 years, and voted yes in all three union

elections. "It's a really good feeling."