Workers at Alabama’s first auto plant have filed a petition to vote on whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.
The UAW announced today that a “supermajority” of workers at Mercedes-Benz’s plant in Tuscaloosa County have signed union cards. The union had set a goal of 70% of the plant’s 6,000 employees signing up.
That number comes little more than three months since the UAW began a whirlwind drive to unionize the plant as part of a move in the Deep South among right-to-work states.
Mercedes-Benz is the second Southern domino to fall in the union’s strategy of organizing plants one at a time by garnering supermajorities of workers to sign union cards. Employees at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga factory are scheduled to vote in two weeks on joining the UAW.
It’s also a potentially historic development in a state where unionization efforts at auto plants have fizzled over the last two decades, even as Alabama rose to lead the nation in passenger vehicle exports last year, shipping out more than $11 billion in cars.
Mercedes employees in Germany are covered by a union contract, have representatives on the company’s board, and elect members to a works council. But the German automaker located in Alabama in 1993 away from union heavy states with historic associations with the American auto industry.
The union campaign at Vance has also seen the UAW announce charges against Mercedes-Benz Group AG, saying the automaker’s moves against union organizing in Alabama have violated a sweeping German law governing international supply chain practices.
Mercedes has said it has not attempted to interfere with any worker wanting to join a union.
“MBUSI fully respects our Team Members’ choice whether to unionize and we look forward to participating in the election process to ensure every Team Member has a chance to cast their own secret-ballot vote, as well as having access to the information necessary to make an informed choice,” Mercedes said in a statement Friday morning.
“Our primary focus at MBUSI is always to provide a safe and supportive work environment for our Team Members, so they can continue to build safe and superior vehicles for the world. We believe open and direct communication with our Team Members is the best path forward to ensure continued success.”
At the same time as UAW works to organize in Vance, the union is organizing a union drive at Montgomery’s Hyundai factory, where 30% of the workers have signed union cards.
“Since Mercedes Benz announced they were making our state home to their first U.S. manufacturing facility in 1993, tens of thousands of Alabama families have been positively impacted,” Gov. Kay Ivey said.
“Let me be crystal clear that Joe Biden’s UAW has no interest in seeing Alabamians succeed. Instead, their interest here is ensuring money from hardworking Alabama families ends up in the UAW bank account. That is why they are willing to spend $40 million to gain a foothold in the Southeast’s automotive powerhouse.”
About 6,000 people work at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), which was the first auto plant to locate in Alabama. The plant produces the Mercedes GLE, GLE coupé and GLS model series. After investing more than $1 billion into its Alabama operations since 2017, Mercedes also produces the all-electric EQS SUV and EQE.
In a video released by the union to coincide with the announcement, workers with Mercedes-Benz gave several reasons why they support the UAW.
Jacob Ryan, a team member, said the vote will “make Mercedes better.”
“Right now, the company keeps losing good people because they force them to work Saturdays at the last second, to take shifts that mess with their family lives,” Ryan said. “And the only choice people have is to take it or quit. With the union, we’ll have a voice for fair schedules that keep workers at Mercedes.”
Jeremy Kimbrell, a measurement machine operator at Mercedes, said the union fight is “standing up for every worker in Alabama.”
“At Mercedes, at Hyundai and at hundreds of other companies, Alabama workers have made billions of dollars for executives and shareholders, but we haven’t gotten our fair share. We’re going to turn things around with this vote. We’re going to end the Alabama discount,” Kimbrell said.
“We are voting for safer jobs at Mercedes,” Moesha Chandler, an assembly team member, said. “I’m still young, but I’m already having serious problems with my shoulders and hands. When you’re still in your twenties and your body is breaking down, that’s not right. By winning our union, we’ll have the power to make the work safer and more sustainable.”
If a majority of workers vote in favor of unionization, the employer is required to bargain over terms and conditions of employment with union representatives.
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