United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters on the picket line outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S., Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Andi Ryż | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama voted against union representation by the United Auto Workers, the National Labor Relations Board said Friday.
The results are a blow to UAW organizing efforts a month after the Detroit union won an organizing drive for some 4,330 workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. Voting started on Monday and ended on Friday.
According to the trade union organization, it failed to collect 56% of the votes, or 2,642 workers, who voted against the UAW. NLRB, who oversaw the elections. The results show that over 90% of the 5,075 eligible Mercedes-Benz employees took part in the elections.
The NLRB said 51 ballots were questioned and not counted, but did not determine the outcome of the election. There were five invalid votes.
According to him, the union and the company have five working days to file objections to the elections, including any alleged interference to the NLRB. If no objections are filed, the election result will be certified and the union will have to wait one year to file for a union election for a similar 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] is not only their favorite employer, but also a place they would recommend to friends and family.”
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain (right) and UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock (left) lead a march outside the Stellantis Ram 1500 plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, after the union announced a strike at the plant on October 23, 2023.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
The loss is expected to hurt the UAW as part of an unprecedented organizing effort launched delayed last year by 13 nonunion U.S. automakers after securing record contracts with Detroit automakers Ford engine, General Motors AND Stellar. These agreements included 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 obviously not the result the union expected, it was a valiant effort, adding that the vote is “not a failure” but a “bump in the road.”
“Even though this loss is painful, I will tell you this, we will hold our heads up, hold our heads high. “These workers have nothing to do but be proud of the effort they put in and what they accomplished,” he said Friday during a news conference. “We fought a good fight and we will continue to do so and move forward. Ultimately, these workers will win here.”
The Mercedes-Benz vote was expected to pose a bigger challenge for the union than the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union has established a presence after two failed organizing drives over the past decade and where it has faced less opposition from the automaker.
Stefan Sylwia, author of “The UAW’s Southern Gamble: Organizing Workers at Foreign-Owned Vehicle Plants,” noted that Mercedes-Benz replaced the plant manager just weeks before the election. He said companies routinely do this, promising workers changes at their plants to deter organizing.
“Companies run anti-union campaigns because they can be effective, and I think this one was effective,” said Silvia, a professor at American University in Washington. “A common element of anti-union campaigns is the firing of a factory manager. .. This seems to have sufficiently convinced workers to vote against the union.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who was one of six GOP governors to condemn the union’s push to organize, praised the vote.
“The people at Vance have spoken and made themselves clear! Alabama is not Michigan and we are not a sweet home for the UAW. We call on the UAW to respect the results of this secret election,” she said.
More than 4 million vehicles have been produced since the plant opened in 1997, including 295,000 vehicles in 2023, according to Mercedes-Benz’s Tuscaloosa plant, located about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham. on the plant’s website.
The Alabama plant currently produces vehicles such as the gas-powered GLE and GLS Maybach SUVs, as well as the fully electric EQS and EQE SUVs.
Last week, the NLRB said it continues to review and investigate open unfair labor practice charges brought by the UAW against automakers, including six unfair labor practice charges filed against Mercedes-Benz since March.
Fain said Friday that the union would pursue these allegations. He declined to say whether the union planned to challenge the election results, saying it would “leave that up” to the union’s legal team.
The allegations allege that Mercedes-Benz “disciplined employees for discussing unions at work, prohibited the distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, subjected employees to surveillance, fired union supporters, forced employees to attend public meetings, and made statements suggesting that union activity is futile, the NLRB said.
The union brought other charges against car manufacturers Honda, Hyundai, See-through, Rivian, Tesla AND Toyota, according to the NLRB.
