Following its victory against the Big 3 US automakers, the United Auto Workers(UAW) labor union announced it would be launching initiatives to expand to other car automakers, which have fewer unionized workers. Recently, a landslide victory in a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee last month suggested that the UAW’s push towards greater unionization was succeeding.
However, the UAW’s efforts to unionize two Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa, Alabama failed this week. Mercedes workers voted 56% to 44% for joining the UAW, due in part to efforts by Mercedes to persuade workers to vote against unionization. Some of these efforts include introducing a new chief executive for the US division of Mercedes who said “Give me a shot”, warnings about membership dues, loss of control, and the economic turmoil it could bring about.
The point about economic turmoil was compounded by local officials, such as Alabama Governor Kay Ivey saying “successful unionization drive will stop this growth in its tracks, to the detriment of American workers”
UAW has claimed that Mercedes engaged in “egregious, illegal behavior”, with its President Shawn Fain saying that Mercedes was being investigating for “intimidation and harassment that they inflicted on their own workers”
With this failure, it’s unclear whether the UAW will be unable to maintain its victorious momentum of prior times, but the UAW is determined to continue its drive to unionize more factories.
