The United Auto Workers has filed for a union vote by workers at the BlueOval SK battery plant in Glendale — an action the company says is “premature” and “puts at risk the freedom and opportunities of our current and soon-to-be-hired Kentucky team members.

The UAW union has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election at the BlueOval SK battery plant in Kentucky.

The United Auto Workers union is petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election at a Kentucky battery plant run by a Ford Motor joint venture, the union said in a release Wednesday.

Workers at a Ford Motor Co. joint-venture battery plant in Kentucky have formally asked the federal government to hold a vote on joining the United Auto Workers, the union said.

Workers at a Kentucky BlueOval SK Battery Park filed for an election to join the United Auto Workers union Tuesday, marking the new year’s first major union election petition filed in the South —and one that could foretell future union activity in Tennessee.