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Autoworkers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama voted Friday against joining the United Auto Workers union, potentially dashing hopes for a rapidly growing wave of autoworker organizing in the American South. be.
The result was a close battle. According to Mercedes-Benz, of the valid votes counted, 56% of workers voted “no” to unionize and 44% voted “yes.” The National Labor Relations Board announced Friday that there are more than 5,000 eligible voters.
The UAW was hoping to carry its strong momentum into the Alabama vote. Because the decision to adopt a “stand-up strike” strategy to attack the Big Three automakers all at once garnered unprecedented attention and resulted in record contracts for workers. And last month, it won a union election at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, its first victory in three attempts to organize the plant.
Under relatively new UAW President Sean Fein, the UAW has shifted its strategy to promoting membership in unorganized factories, many of which are located in the American South.
In an interview with Car and Driver in March, Fein said Japanese, Korean and German automakers have low profit margins. “It was despicably worse than the Big Three, but their workers still got less.”
“I truly believe there will be big changes this year. I think we will win in the South,” he said in an interview.
But at a news conference Friday, Fein said losses are part of the process and the union “will continue and continue to fight.”
“Today wasn't the result we wanted, but I'm very proud of these workers. We'll keep our heads held high and move forward,” Fein said.
In an email statement Friday, Fein said Alabama workers “won significant gains in this campaign.” Fein said he raised wages with a “UAW bump.” This is when non-union companies give raises to non-union employees to counter union contracts. Mercedes-Benz also named a new CEO for Alabama ahead of the election.
Fein said Mercedes encouraged employees to give the new CEO a chance before the election.
“That’s exactly what Volkswagen told its employees in 2019. And in 2024, Volkswagen employees realized that it’s not about the CEO. It’s about having a voice at work. “We want our lives back and our time back. The only way to do that is to get a union contract,” he wrote.
Kim Chandler/Associated Press
After a press conference in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on May 17, 2024, workers at two Mercedes-Benz factories in Alabama voted overwhelmingly against joining the United Auto Workers union. Worker David Johnston (right) thanks UAW President Sean Fein.
“Our goal throughout this process was to ensure that all eligible team members had the opportunity to participate in a fair election,” Mercedes-Benz US International said in a statement.
“At MBUSI, we are always focused on providing a safe and supportive work environment that allows our team members to build great vehicles for the world. , we look forward to continuing to work directly with our team members to ensure that we are a place that friends and family will recommend.”
Issued by six southern governors: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. A joint statement in April warned that it could stifle the union movement and jeopardize the jobs of workers as well as the auto industry in the south. The statement was released the day before Volkswagen workers were to vote on joining the UAW.
“The reality is that businesses have choices when it comes to where they invest and where they bring jobs and opportunity. We have worked tirelessly for our constituents to bring good-paying jobs to each state. The work has become part of the automobile manufacturing industry,” the statement said.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement Friday that “auto manufacturing is one of Alabama's crown jewel industries” and the state is “committed to keeping it that way.”
“The workers at Vance have spoken loud and clear: Alabama is not Michigan, and we are not sweet home for the UAW,” Ivey said in a statement.
According to the UAW, Mercedes allegedly resisted unionization efforts in other ways.
The National Labor Relations Board announced it is investigating six unfair labor practice complaints filed by the UAW against Mercedes-Benz since March. The UAW's charges allege that Mercedes disciplined employees for discussing unionization while on the job, prohibited them from distributing union materials, monitored employees, and discouraged employees from unionizing. The lawsuit alleges that the company forced employees to attend “restricted audience meetings,” which are forced meetings during working hours for the purpose of “restricted audience meetings.''
Mercedes-Benz US International denies these allegations, saying in a statement that it has “never interfered with a team member's right to union representation or retaliated against them.” It continued: “We do not believe these allegations have merit and look forward to submitting our claims to the NLRB.”
The UAW announced that it has begun an effort to organize workers at 13 non-union U.S. auto plants in November 2023. The effort included three U.S.-based electric vehicle manufacturers (Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid) and 10 foreign automakers that produce vehicles in the United States. USA — BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo.
The south has become an attractive area for foreign automakers to set up factories. That's because of generous tax breaks and cheap labor, where non-union workers typically don't receive the wages and benefits that unionized workers win.
But last month, hourly workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW, with 73% of the plant's 3,600 workers voting to join the union. did.
Seth Herald/Reuters
People react at a watch party in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, on April 19, 2024, to a vote in favor of hourly workers at a Volkswagen assembly plant joining the United Auto Workers (UAW).
The win in Chattanooga wasn't easy for the UAW. Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University's Buffalo office in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said Volkswagen didn't win until its third union campaign. This is the first strong push for the Mercedes plant, and labor experts say the loss of the Mercedes plant is not the end of the push to organize the South.
“It wouldn't be a disaster if they didn't win[the first time]. The main reason is because they're facing a very active Mercedes-Benz that's trying to stop them from organizing, and the South has We have a governor who is trying to stop them from organizing because they don't have the same track record and history and infrastructure as Alabama,” Wheaton said. he told CNN earlier this week.
At a press conference on Friday, Fein said the difference between Mercedes and Volkswagen was that “Volkswagen was more neutral.”
“Until we have absolute, neutral, free and fair elections…this is the fight we have to fight,” Fein said.
Approximately 150,000 workers currently work in nonunion auto plants in the United States. That's about the same number of workers as the Big Three.
Since 1990, the South's share of auto employment has doubled from about 15% to 30% today, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Meanwhile, the Midwest's share fell from 60% to 45%.
“Even if they lose, it's not scary because it benefits the UAW.” A chance to see where they are. They can gauge how much support they have,” Wheaton said.
This story has been updated with additional development and background.
– CNN's Chris Isidore and Nathaniel Meyersohn contributed to this report.
