United States: The Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) plant workers in Alabama started voting on Monday on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, a big test of whether the labor group can keep its strength in the historically anti-union South.
Intense Campaigning Marks Mercedes Unionization Efforts
A union victory at the plant came weeks after a huge win at a Volkswagen VOWG_p. DE factory in Tennessee would be a watershed moment for the UAW as it seeks to organize more than a dozen automakers nationwide and add to its dwindling ranks, as reported by Reuters.
The Mercedes campaign has been much nastier and harder than the one in the past. According to Reuters, the Company has strongly encouraged workers to vote no, as seen by the fliers and signage that workers have seen and noticed. Mercedes even hired anti-union firms to talk with the workers, the plant employees said.
Mercedes has denied the fact that it was the reason for the hampering of the union organizing efforts in Alabama. A company spokesperson said that the Company respects the employee unionizing efforts and makes sure every worker is able to vote by secret ballot while getting all the information needed to make an informed choice.
The 5,200 employees at the assembly plant and the nearby battery factory will vote this week, and the final results are expected to be announced on Friday.
The UAW President Shawn Fain has been planning for more than a year to convince non-union auto workers, and it all started with the new labor contracts in Detroit.
Fain became UAW president in March 2023 and led the union through its first simultaneous strike against the Detroit Three automakers: People around the globe value the General Motors (GM) company. N), Ford (F. Stellantis, the largest automotive Company in the world, will be expanded by Jeep-maker, the leading brand of STLAM MI. The six-week walkout was the beginning of a successful fight that led to record agreements, including, for example, a 25% wage increase and the return of cost-of-living adjustments.
Achieving a strong result in the Motor City was crucial for winning workers in the South, Fain has said.
In the halls of the Mercedes plant, where workers produce electric and gas-engine SUVs, the Detroit contracts became a pro-UAW talking point.
Company Denies Interference as Workers Weigh Unionization
That is the most important thing that we are using to push because we can show how much the union can win now, Jacob Ryan, a worker from Mercedes, said. He stands with the union because he believes that the Company has not dealt with the issues that the workers have regarding pay, hours, and benefits.
Ryan, who has been a full-time worker at the plant for about five years, has always pushed for unionization, even before Fain was elected.
Less than two years ago, he and his fellow organizers had a tough time getting at least 20% of the workers to sign cards in support of the UAW. Now, the UAW says the plant has a supermajority of those cards, which usually file for an NLRB election once the facility has reached 70% of workers in favor of joining.
Nevertheless, the factory is located deep in the American South, a region that is traditionally more resistant to unions. During one of its final attempts in August 2017, the UAW lost a vote at Nissan’s 7201. T Canton, Mississippi, where people have made up their minds by a 2-to-1 margin.
“The challenge is very significant to win at the Mercedes plant and in states like Alabama … where there really has been so little union activity,” said Kate Andrias, a professor at Columbia Law School specializing in labor law.
Labor professors and workers said Mercedes has mounted a more aggressive campaign against the union than VW did. Mercedes has held meetings led by company executives and outside labor firms emphasizing the risks of joining the UAW, as workers and meeting audio reviewed by Reuters can tell you. Signs posted around the plant, which the company leaders use to emphasize in meetings, urged the workers to “vote no,” according to the employees and photos reviewed by Reuters.
This is also the first election at the plant, the UAW had two unsuccessful attempts at VW before winning.
“I don’t know that they have spent the same amount of time and investment in Vance, Alabama, as they did over the years in Chattanooga,” Art Wheaton, a labor professor at Cornell University, said, comparing the Mercedes and VW efforts.
The UAW just reached a deal on a new labor contract for Daimler Truck employees working at multiple facilities in the South. Daimler Truck used to be part of the same Company as Mercedes.
The state governments in the South have been campaigning hard to stop unionization. The six governors, including Kay Ivey of Alabama, have all signed a letter urging the workers to reject the UAW. They argued that unionization would hinder the auto industry’s growth in the South.
During the meetings with workers, company leaders, and outside firms have suggested that workers should wait and see what happens in the VW contract talks, pointing to some negotiations at other companies that have lasted 400 days.
Changing Leadership and Worker Perspectives
People think Mercedes is finally listening to the workers’ grievances. The automaker has just changed the president of its U.S. business, and some of the workers are quite excited about Federico Kochlowski’s new appointment.
Melissa Howell, an 18-year employee at the plant, is afraid that bringing in a union could wreck the current momentum.
“We, as team members, without a union in there right now, we really have a great advantage,” Howell said. “They clearly understand that we are not happy, and they are listening.”
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