The United Auto Workers claimed victory early Thursday in an organizing vote of employees at Ford Motor Co.'s joint-venture battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky, but challenged ballots outnumber the difference between the yes and no totals in the election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

Support for the Detroit-based union by workers at BlueOval SK Battery Park, a venture between the Dearborn automaker and South Korean battery partner SK On Ltd., led with 50.5% of the vote ― 526 to 515, according to BOSK and a UAW source familiar with the vote. There were 41 ballots outstanding, according to the union and BOSK, because their eligibility was disputed.

"BlueOval SK workers won a majority of votes in an NLRB election to unionize their plant in Glendale, Kentucky, securing a ha

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