United Auto Employees (UAW) members and supporters on a picket line outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023.
Andi Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT – The United Auto Employees union is difficult the outcomes of last week’s organizing vote of Mercedes-Benz staff in Alabama, wherein staff voted against union representation, and is asking federal officials to order a latest election.
Amongst a dozen or so claims, the Detroit union alleges that the German automaker fired 4 pro-union staff, forced staff to attend anti-union meetings, and interfered with staff’ ability to advocate for the union.
Union organizing failed on the Alabama plant with 56% of the vote, or 2,642 staff, casting ballots against the UAW, in keeping with the NLRB, which oversaw the election. Greater than 90% of the 5,075 eligible Mercedes-Benz staff voted within the election.
“All these staff ever wanted was a good shot at having a voice on the job and a say of their working conditions,” the UAW said in an announcement. “And that is what we’re asking for here. Let’s get a vote at Mercedes in Alabama where the corporate is not allowed to fireplace people, is not allowed to intimidate people, and is not allowed to interrupt the law and their very own corporate code, and let the employees determine.”
The National Labor Relations Board confirmed Friday afternoon that its Atlanta-based office received the UAW’s objections to the election. Friday was the last day the union could file objections and challenge the election.
Mercedes-Benz in an announcement Friday said company officials “worked with the NLRB to stick to its guidelines and we’ll proceed to achieve this” through the objection process. The automaker said it “sincerely hoped the UAW would respect our Team Members’ decision.”
The NLRB said its regional director will review the UAW’s allegations of an unfair election. If she finds that the objections raise substantial and material problems with undeniable fact that may very well be best resolved by a hearing, she’s going to order a hearing. If after the hearing, she finds that the employer’s conduct affected the election, she will be able to order a latest election.
The agency also reconfirmed that it’s processing and investigating unfair labor practice charges filed by the UAW against automakers, including six unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes-Benz since March.
After the outcomes were announced, UAW President Shawn Fain accused the corporate of conducting an anti-union campaign, including “egregious illegal behavior,” but he declined to debate the union’s potential plans to object to the outcomes.
United Auto Employees President Shawn Fain during a web based broadcast updating union members on negotiations with the Detroit automakers on Oct. 6, 2023.
Screenshot
Fain said on May 17 that the union would proceed to maneuver forward with its charges against Mercedes-Benz, which allege that Mercedes-Benz has “disciplined employees for discussing unionization at work, prohibited distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, surveilled employees, discharged union supporters, forced employees to attend captive audience meetings, and made statements suggesting that union activity is futile,” the NLRB previously said.
The Alabama results were a blow to the UAW’s organizing efforts a month after it won an organizing drive of roughly 4,330 Volkswagen plant staff in Tennessee.
The Mercedes-Benz vote was expected to be tougher for the union than the vote on the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union had already established a presence after two failed organizing drives prior to now decade and where it faced less opposition from the automaker.
