Members and supporters of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on a picket line in front of the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Andi Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union is challenging the results of Mercedes-Benz workers’ organizing vote in Alabama last week, in which workers voted against union representation, and is calling on federal officials to order a new election.
Among about a dozen allegations, the Detroit union alleges the German automaker fired four pro-union workers, forced workers to attend anti-union meetings and harmed workers’ ability to advocate for the union.
According to the NLRB, which monitored the election, unionization failed at the Alabama plant. 56% of the vote, or 2,642 workers, voted against the UAW. More than 90% of the 5,075 Mercedes-Benz workers eligible to vote took part in the election.
“All these workers ever wanted was a fair chance to have a say in the workplace and a say in their working conditions,” the UAW said in a statement. “And that is what we are asking for here. Let’s vote at Mercedes in Alabama, where the company is not allowed to fire people, is not allowed to intimidate people and is not allowed to violate the law and its own corporate code and let the workers decide.
The National Labor Relations Board confirmed Friday afternoon that its Atlanta office had received the UAW’s objections to the election. Friday was the last day the union could file an objection and challenge the election.
Mercedes-Benz said in a statement Friday that company officials “have been working with the NLRB to comply with its guidelines” as part of the appeal process, and we will continue to do so. The automaker said it “sincerely hopes the UAW would respect the decision of our team members.”
The NLRB said its regional director would review the UAW’s allegations of an unfair election. If it finds that the objections raise material and material questions of fact that could best be resolved by a hearing, it will order a hearing. If, after the hearing, it finds that the employer’s behavior influenced the election, it can order a new election.
The agency also reconfirmed that it is 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 results were announced, UAW President Shawn Fain accused the company of waging an anti-union campaign that included “egregious illegal behavior.” But he declined to discuss the union’s possible plans to object to the results.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain during an online broadcast briefing union members on negotiations with Detroit automakers on October 6, 2023.
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Fain said May 17 that the union would continue to press forward with its cases against Mercedes-Benz. These allege that Mercedes-Benz “disciplined employees for discussing union organizing in the workplace, prohibited the distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, monitored employees, and fired the union.” supporters, forced employees to attend public meetings, and made statements that created the impression that union activities were pointless,” the NLRB previously said.
The results in Alabama were a blow to the UAW’s organizing efforts, a month after it won an organizing drive of about 4,330 Volkswagen plant workers in Tennessee.
The vote at Mercedes-Benz was expected to pose a greater challenge to the union than the vote at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union had already established a presence after two failed unionization efforts over the past decade and where it faced less opposition on the part of the car manufacturer.
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2024-05-24 20:38:53
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