Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama vote against union in major blow to UAW
U.S. workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama handed a stinging loss to the United Auto Workers on Friday, rejecting the union in a vote it had expected would build on a win at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant and push it deeper into the U.S. South.
It marked the first big loss for UAW organizers after a series of victories, including double-digit raises for Detroit workers and the union’s expansion to a VW factory in Chattanooga last month. That leaves the next steps unclear for the union, which is in the midst of a $40 million campaign targeting other automakers including Toyota and Tesla.
“It was clearly damaging to the union and other organizing attempts near-term, but it is the beginning, not the end,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University California, Berkeley. He blamed worker unfamiliarity with the union and pushback from Mercedes for the loss.
The workers at the plant in Vance, Alabama, and a nearby battery facility voted 2,642 to 2,045 against joining the UAW, meaning 56% voted “no,” according to the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the vote. The result still needs to be certified.
“While this loss stings, we’ll keep our heads up,” UAW President Shawn Fain said at a nearby union hall following the loss.
“I’m not scared at all,” he said when asked about losing momentum. “This is a setback.”
The UAW had hoped to continue a run that includes the overwhelming VW win in Tennessee, as well as a lucrative new contract at six Daimler Truck facilities across the South. Daimler Truck was spun off from what is now Mercedes.
The UAW’s next steps are uncertain. The union previously cited organizing progress at a Hyundai plant in Alabama, and Toyota plants in Missouri and Georgetown, Kentucky.
A win at Mercedes would have marked the second foreign-owned automaker in the U.S. South to join the UAW, but instead the union will need to redouble efforts to win over workers in a region that has previously been inhospitable to unions. Widening its reach beyond the Detroit automakers is critical for the UAW to maintain its influence within the industry.
Until the Tennessee VW win, the union had repeatedly failed to organize a foreign-owned automaker in the U.S. South for its nearly 90-year existence.
Much of the politically conservative South has treated left-leaning unions as enemies, passing laws that make it difficult to operate, and anti-union forces have warned that companies are more likely to close union factories. A previous UAW corruption scandal that resulted in the arrest of several leaders further eroded support.
VW workers twice voted against the UAW before last month’s win, and Nissan workers at a plant in Mississippi rejected the UAW by a wide margin in 2017. In 2021, workers at an Amazon.com warehouse in Alabama voted against forming a union by a more than 2-to-1 margin.