United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters picket outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Andi Rice | Bloomberg | fake 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 the UAW's organizing efforts a month after the Detroit union won an organizing drive by about 4,330 workers at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. Voting began on Monday and ended on Friday.
Union organizing failed with 56% of the vote, or 2,642 workers, against the UAW, according to the NLRB, which monitored the election. According to the results, more than 90% of the 5,075 eligible Mercedes-Benz workers voted in the elections.
The NLRB said 51 ballots were challenged and not counted, but they are not decisive in the outcome of the election. There were five null votes.
The union and the company have five business days to file objections to the election, including any alleged interference, according to the NLRB. If no objections are raised, the election result will be certified and the union will have to wait one year to request a union election for a similar bargaining unit.
Mercedes-Benz in a statement said company officials “look forward to continuing to work directly with our team members to ensure [Mercedes-Benz US International] “It's not only their employer of choice, 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 called a strike at the plant on October 23, 2023.
Michael Wayland/CNBC
The loss is expected to hurt the UAW in an unprecedented organizing campaign launched late last year by 13 non-union automakers in the U.S. after winning record contracts with Detroit automakers. ford engine, General Motors and stellantis. Those agreements included significant pay increases, the reinstatement 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 wanted, it was a valiant effort, adding that the vote is “not a failure” but a “lower.” in the path”.
“Although this loss hurts, I will tell you this: We will keep our heads up, we will keep our heads held high. These workers have nothing to do but be proud of the effort they made and what they have done,” he said Friday during a press conference. “We fought the good fight and we're going to continue, keep going. In the end, these workers here are going to win.”
The Mercedes-Benz vote was expected to be more challenging for the union than the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union had already established a presence after two failed union campaigns in the last decade..
Workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, located about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham, have produced more than 4 million vehicles since the plant opened in 1997, including 295,000 vehicles by 2023, according to the Mercedes-Benz website. plant.
The Alabama plant currently produces vehicles such as the gasoline-powered GLE and GLS Maybach SUVs, as well as the EQS and EQE all-electric SUVs.
Last week, the NLRB said it continues to prosecute and investigate open unfair labor practice charges filed by the UAW against automakers, including six unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes-Benz since March.
The charges allege that Mercedes-Benz has “disciplined employees for discussing union organizing at work, prohibited the distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, surveilled employees, fired union supporters, forced employees to attend meetings with captive audiences and made statements suggesting that union activity is futile,” the NLRB said.
The union has brought other charges against the automakers. sling, hyundai, Lucid, rivian, tesla and toyota, according to the NLRB.
