United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters are on the picket line outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S., Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Andy Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama voted against union representation from the United Auto Workers, the National Labor Relations Board said Friday.
The results are a blow to the UAW’s organizing efforts a month after the Detroit union won an organizing drive among some 4,330 Volkswagen plant workers in Tennessee. Voting opens on Monday and ends on Friday.
Union organizing failed, with 56 percent of the vote, or 2,642 workers, voting against the UAW, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversaw the election. The results showed that more than 90% of the 5,075 eligible Mercedes-Benz employees participated in the election.
The NLRB said 51 ballots were challenged and not counted, but they did not determine the outcome of the election. There were five invalid votes.
Unions and companies have five business days to raise objections to the election, including any alleged interference, according to the National Labor Relations Board. If no objections are filed, the election results are certified and the union must wait a year before filing for a union election similar to a bargaining unit.
Mercedes-Benz said in a statement that company officials “look forward to continuing to work directly with our team members to ensure [Mercedes-Benz US International] Not just an employer of their choice, but a place they would recommend to friends and family.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain (right) and UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock (left) at the Stellantis Ram 1500 plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, after a union strike on Oct. 23, 2023. Leading parades outside.
Michael Weiland/CNBC
Late last year, 13 non-union U.S. automakers launched an unprecedented organizing drive after signing a record contract with the Detroit automaker, a loss expected to hurt the UAW Ford, General Motors and star. The agreements include significant wage increases, the restoration of cost-of-living adjustments and other benefits.
UAW President Shawn Fain said that while the Mercedes-Benz vote was clearly not the outcome the union wanted, it was a valiant effort, adding that the vote was “not a failure” but ” The bumps in the road.”
“While this loss is painful, I will tell you, we will hold our heads high and our hearts held high. These workers have nothing to do but be proud of their efforts and everything they do,” he told a media conference on Friday. “We fought the good fight and we’re going to keep going and keep going. Ultimately, these workers here are going to win.”
The Mercedes-Benz vote is expected to be more challenging for the union than at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union has established a presence after two failed organizing drives in the past decade and is under pressure from automakers There is less opposition from businessmen.
Stephen Sylvia, author of “The UAW’s Southern Gamble: Organizing Workers at Foreign-Owned Auto Plants,” noted that Mercedes-Benz replaced the plant’s leader just weeks before the election. He said companies often do this by promising employees to change clothes at their factories to avoid organizing.
“Companies launch anti-union campaigns because they can be effective, and I think this campaign is effective,” said Sylvia, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. “A common element of anti-union campaigns is to fire factory managers…” …It seems Convinced enough workers to vote against the union.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, one of six Republican governors to denounce the union organizing drive, welcomed the results.
“The workers of Vance have spoken and they have spoken! Alabama is not Michigan and we are not a sweet home for the UAW. We urge the UAW to respect this secret ballot vote results,” she said.
Workers at the Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant, about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham, have produced more than 4 million vehicles since it opened in 1997, including 295,000 by 2023, according to the plant’s website. car.
The Alabama plant currently produces vehicles such as the gasoline-powered GLE and GLS Maybach SUVs and the all-electric EQS and EQE SUVs.
The NLRB said last week it would continue to address and investigate public unfair labor practice charges brought by the UAW against automakers, including six unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes-Benz since March.
Fein said Friday the union would continue to press the charges. He declined to say whether the union planned to challenge the election results, saying he would “leave that to” the union’s legal team.
The complaint alleges that Mercedes-Benz “disciplined employees who discussed union issues at work, prohibited the distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, spied on employees, fired union supporters, forced employees to attend closed audience meetings, and issued statements suggesting that Union activity is futile, National Labor Council says.
The union has also leveled other charges against the automaker Honda, modern, wide awake, Rivian, Tesla and Toyota, According to the National Labor Relations Board.
