More than 5,000 workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama have asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a union election so they can join the UAW. This is the second big push for union representation in the South in less than three weeks; the first was by Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, TN, who will have their vote April 17–19.
A Mercedes worker named Jeremy Kimbrell said in a statement on April 5: “We are standing up for every worker in Alabama.” Alabama workers have made tons of money for leaders and shareholders at Mercedes, Hyundai, and hundreds of other companies, but we haven’t gotten our fair share. With this choice, we’ll make things better. The Alabama rate will no longer be given.
“We are voting for safer jobs at Mercedes,” Moesha Chandler, who works on the assembly team at Mercedes, said. Even though I’m young, my wrists and hands are giving me a lot of trouble already. There’s no reason for your body to break down when you’re still in your 20s. We will be able to make the work safer and last longer if we win our union.”
Even though Mercedes management is trying to stop the workers from joining a union, they don’t seem to be giving up. Since a huge majority of people have already shown their support by signing union cards, the attention now turns to the next vote, which the NLRB may schedule for early May.
The UAW has not only sued Mercedes for allegedly trying to break up unions, but it has also gone to a German court and accused the carmaker of labor violations that could have very bad financial effects.
Jaguar Ryan, a KVP team member at Mercedes, said, “This vote will make Mercedes better.” “The company is losing good workers because they make them work on Saturdays at the last minute, which makes it hard for them to spend time with their families.” People can either take it or quit. With the union, we can fight for fair hours that keep workers at Mercedes.
Since the historic success of the Stand Up Strike at the Big Three auto companies, a lot of non-union autoworkers are getting ready to join the UAW. The Mercedes workers are part of this movement. In the past few months, public efforts at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, AL, and Toyota in Troy, MO have led more than 10,000 non-union autoworkers to sign union cards. There are also busy organizing efforts going on at more than twenty other facilities.
