VANCE, Alabama – Experts in labor relations say that even though the United Auto Workers lost their first attempt to organize a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama on Friday, it was still a good result for the group in a state that has a history of being against unions.
56% of workers at the Vance, Alabama, plant decided not to join the union. Before last month’s big win at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, the UAW had failed many times over its nearly 90-year history to organize a foreign-owned carmaker in the area.
And even though they lost at Mercedes, the UAW can still try to organize other plants in the South or even try again at Mercedes, according to Peter Bible, a former General Motors official who worked with the UAW on labor talks.
“They’ll be back,” he said, adding that the UAW got more votes than he thought they would, since the plant was in the South.
Bible also said that workers’ uncertainty about the car industry’s move to electric vehicles will only give the union more chances to make money.
The UAW promised earlier this year to spend $40 million to organize more than a dozen automakers that are not unionized. These companies include Tesla and Toyota. For the UAW to keep its power in the industry, it needs to reach out to more than just Detroit companies.
Workers at Mercedes said that a strong effort against unions from the German automaker and politicians in the south made some people vote against the UAW. Six U.S. governors, including Kay Ivey of Alabama, signed a letter telling workers not to join the UAW. Because of unions, they said, the auto business in the South would not grow as fast.
Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the UAW had lost twice at VW in Tennessee before they finally won easily. The loss at Mercedes was similar to the one at VW in 2014, when 53% of voters was against the union.
When he spoke after the loss, UAW President Shawn Fain didn’t say what the union would do next, but he did say that it wasn’t the end of its work. The union and its officials have said in the past that organizing was going well at a Hyundai plant in Alabama and at Toyota plants in Missouri and Georgetown, Kentucky.
PREJECTING SUPPORT TOO HIGH
At a UAW union hall near Vance, Fain said, “We didn’t leave anything on the table.” “There’s no regrets in this fight.”
He also said, “This is a David vs. Goliath fight.” “David sometimes wins a fight. David wins the war, though.
The UAW called the election because it said that a “supermajority” of workers had signed cards backing the union. However, it was clear that support for the union dropped before the vote.
Jay White, who has worked for Mercedes in Alabama for 18 years, said he thought the union had too much backing. He said that the movement against unions has really picked up speed in the last few weeks as people who are against them handed out flyers and talked to their coworkers one-on-one.
“I just want the best for our team members, and for our company, and for our jobs,” he said.
A professor at American University named Stephen Silvia said that the Mercedes vote was a good first step in a region where two-to-one losses are common. Silvia has written about the UAW’s past organizing efforts in the South.
In 2017, a large majority of Nissan workers at a plant in Mississippi turned down the UAW. In 2021, workers at an Amazon.com warehouse in Alabama voted more than 2 to 1 against joining a union. This was not in the car industry or the UAW. Analysts say it will still be hard to organize in the South, even though Mercedes was a closer loss.
There are more than 10 non-union manufacturing plants in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee, just counting the Mercedes plant. These plants are used by Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Volvo, Hyundai, Kia, and VW, among others.
Since becoming head of the UAW in March 2023, Fain has had a few big failures. The Mercedes loss is one of the main ones. The fiery boss won the union’s first direct election by a very small margin. He spent most of his career as an electrician for Chrysler, which is now part of Stellantis.
John Logan, a labor professor at San Francisco State University, said that even though the workers at Mercedes lost, it is still a good time for organizing in the US because more people support unions.
“I don’t think we will be waiting a year before the next election in the South,” he added. “It will be another hard battle.”
