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American workers at a Mercedes-Benz factory in alabama On Friday, the United Auto Workers rejected the union in a landslide defeat in a vote that had been expected to push the union deeper into the American South based on its victory at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee.
It was the first major loss for UAW organizers after a series of victories, including double-digit raises for Detroit workers and union expansion to the VW plant in Chattanooga last month. That leaves next steps unclear for the union, which is in the midst of a $40 million campaign targeting other automakers, including Toyota and Tesla.
“It clearly hurt unions and other organizing efforts in the short term, but this is a beginning, not an end,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He blamed the losses on workers’ unfamiliarity with unions and opposition from Mercedes.
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Workers at the Vance, Alabama, plant and nearby battery facility voted 2,642 to 2,045 against participating. U.A.W., which means 56% voted “no,” according to the U.S. Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the vote. Results still need to be certified.
“This loss hurts, but we’re going to pull ourselves together,” UAW President Sean Fein said at a nearby union hall after the loss.
When asked about losing momentum, he replied, “I’m not scared at all.” “This is a setback.”
The UAW was hoping to continue its business, which included a landslide victory for VW in Tennessee and lucrative new contracts at six Daimler Truck facilities in the South. Daimler Trucks became independent from Mercedes.
The UAW’s next steps are unclear. The union previously cited organizing progress at Hyundai plants in Alabama and Toyota plants in Missouri and Georgetown, Kentucky.
Exterior view of the Mercedes car factory in Vance, Alabama, USA, May 15, 2024. There, workers are voting on whether to join the United Auto Workers (UAW). (Reuters/Nora Eckert/File Photo)
If Mercedes wins, it will become the second foreign automaker in the southern United States to join the UAW, but the union will instead have to work to gain support from workers in areas where unions have been difficult to reach. Need to double down. For the UAW to maintain its influence within the industry, it is important that it expand its reach beyond the Detroit automaker.
Until Tennessee VW’s victory, the union had repeatedly failed to organize foreign automakers in the American South over its nearly 90 years of existence.
Much of the politically conservative South has passed laws that antagonize left-wing unions and make it harder for them to operate, and anti-union forces have warned that companies are likely to close unionized factories. . Previous UAW corruption scandals led to the arrest of several leaders, further reducing support.
VW workers had twice voted against the UAW before last month’s victory, and Nissan workers at a Mississippi plant rejected the UAW by a wide margin in 2017. In 2021, workers at an Amazon.com warehouse in Alabama voted against forming a union. Better than a 2-to-1 margin.
complications
The loss complicates the story of how the UAW markets its influence, particularly in the South, but is unlikely to be a significant blow to the UAW’s remaining organizing efforts, labor experts say. said.
“It’s easy to overstate the momentum issue,” said Stephen Sylvia, a professor at American University who has written about the UAW’s past organizing efforts in the South.
“Ultimately it comes down to what’s going on in their respective workplaces,” he added, noting that just as a win at Volkswagen doesn’t guarantee a win at Mercedes, this loss could mean future losses. He emphasized that this is not a guarantee.
The company made its feelings clear during the preparation stage. Employees said signs were posted around the Alabama plant urging workers to vote “no,” and the company hired an anti-union firm to talk to workers about the potential risks of joining the UAW, according to Reuters. The confirmed photos and audio were also revealed.
Fein said Friday that the automaker acted illegally. Mercedes had previously rejected claims that it interfered with union organizing efforts in Alabama.
“Our goal throughout this process has been to ensure that all eligible team members have the opportunity to participate in a fair election,” Mercedes said in a statement after the vote. “I look forward to continuing to work directly with our team members.”
Political opposition remained staunch in this election campaign. Six U.S. governors, including Alabama’s Kay Ivey, signed a letter urging workers to reject the UAW.They said union organizing would inhibit the growth of the auto industry. the other side of the south.
Mercedes also brought in a new president for its U.S. operations in the weeks leading up to the vote, a change that gave some workers hope that things could improve even without a union.
Anti-union Mercedes worker Melissa Howell cried tears of relief when the results were revealed. She had worked at Mercedes for 18 years and felt her voice would be stifled if her union won.
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For the past two-and-a-half weeks, she and others have worked to stop the UAW, but in the final days of the movement they noticed anti-union momentum building. “People came up to me last week,” Howell said. “I’ve noticed a big change in people’s attitudes.”
