Members and supporters of the United Auto Workers (UAW) line up on a picket line outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
Andy Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The National Labor Relations Board announced Friday that Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama have voted against union representation by the United Auto Workers union.
The result is a blow to the UAW’s organizing efforts, one month after the Detroit union won an effort to organize about 4,330 Volkswagen plant workers in Tennessee. Voting began on Monday and ended on Friday.
Union organizing failed with 2,642 workers voting against the UAW, or 56% of the vote, according to the NLRB, which oversaw the election. According to the results, more than 90% of Mercedes-Benz’s 5,075 eligible employees voted in the election.
The NLRB said 51 votes were contested and were not counted, but they do not determine the outcome of the election. There were 5 invalid votes.
Unions and companies have five business days to file objections to the election, including allegations of interference, the NLRB said. If no objections are filed, the election results will be certified and unions will have to wait one year before filing union elections for similar bargaining units.
Mercedes-Benz said in a statement that company officials “continue to work directly with our team members and [Mercedes-Benz US International] Not only is the company their employer of choice, but it’s also a place they would recommend to their friends and family. ”
United Auto Workers President Sean Fein, right, leads a march outside Stellantis’ Ram 1500 plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, after the union called for a strike at the plant on October 23, 2023. UAW Secretary and Treasurer Margaret Mock (left).
Michael Weiland/CNBC
The loss is expected to be a blow to the UAW amid an unprecedented organizing campaign launched late last year by 13 nonunion U.S. automakers after winning a record contract with the Detroit automaker. There is. ford motor, general motors and Stellantis. These agreements included significant wage increases, reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, and other benefits.
UAW President Sean Fein said the Mercedes-Benz vote was clearly not the result the union wanted, but it was a valiant effort, adding that the vote was not a “failure” but a “hard road.” .
“This loss hurts, but let me say this: We are going to keep our heads up and keep our heads up. These workers are proud of the effort they put in and what they accomplished. There’s nothing to do but think about it,” he said at a media conference on Friday. “We fought a good fight and we’re going to keep going and keep moving forward. In the end, the workers here will win.”
The Mercedes-Benz vote was expected to be tougher for unions than at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. In Tennessee, unions already had an established presence after two failed organizing efforts in the past decade, and there was little opposition from automakers.
Steven Sylvia, author of “The UAW’s Southern Gamble: Organizing Workers at Foreign Auto Plants,” noted that Mercedes-Benz replaced the plant’s leaders weeks before the election. He said companies have promised to replace workers at their facilities to discourage unionization, and they do this routinely.
“Companies engage in anti-union campaigns because they can be effective, and I think this campaign was effective,” said Sylvia, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. .. This appears to have convinced enough workers to vote against the union. ”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, one of six Republican governors who condemned the union organizing push, praised the vote.
“The workers at Vance spoke out and spoke loud and clear! Alabama is not Michigan and we are not sweet home for the UAW. We ask the UAW to respect the results of this secret ballot election. I ask you to do so,” she said.
Employees at Mercedes-Benz’s Tuscaloosa plant, located about 90 miles southwest of Birmingham, have produced more than 4 million vehicles since the plant opened in 1997, and by 2023, according to the plant’s website. Including 295,000 units.
The Alabama plant currently produces vehicles such as the gas-powered GLE and GLS Maybach SUVs and the all-electric EQS and EQE SUVs.
The NLRB announced last week that it is continuing to process and investigate unresolved unfair labor practice complaints filed by the UAW against automakers. This includes six unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes-Benz since March.
Fein said Friday that the union will continue to press these charges. He declined to say whether the union intended to challenge the election results, saying he would “leave that up to” the union’s legal team.
According to the complaint, Mercedes-Benz “disciplined employees who discussed unionizing in the workplace, prohibited the distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, surveilled employees, fired union supporters, and imprisoned employees.” “He forced the union to attend a meeting in which he had been arrested, and made statements suggesting that union activities were futile.” ” the NLRB said.
The union has also filed other charges against the automaker. Honda, Hyundai, clear, Rivian, tesla and Toyota, According to the NLRB.
