Non-union workers at Mercedes-Benz plants in Vance (pictured) and Woodtock, Alabama will vote on UAW … [+]
The UAW’s chances of organizing a non-union, foreign-owned U.S. plant just doubled. As workers at a Volkswagen auto plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee vote on UAW representation through Friday, their counterparts at two Mercedes-Benz facilities in Alabama will now get their chance to decide on whether to join the union.
The vote at Mercedes-Benz plants in Vance and Woodstock, Alabama will take place May 13 through 17, the National Labor Relations Board announced Thursday.
A pre-election hearing was avoided when both sides stipulated to dates and conditions, the NLRB said in a filing.
Eligible to take part in the election are all full-time and regular part-time production and maintenance workers employed by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. at its Vance and Woodstock, Alabama facilities, according to the filing.
Excluded are those employed by contractors or employee leasing companies and/or temporary agencies, student workers, professional employees, guards, managers and supervisors, the filing said.
Successful votes at both locations would add a significant number of dues-paying members for the UAW which has seen its rolls decline to historic lows.
The SUV plant in Vance employs about 6,000 workers and another 600 work at the battery plant in Woodstock, according to the Mercedes-Benz USA website.
The ongoing vote at the Volkswagen plant and the upcoming balloting at the Mercedes-Benz facilities in Alabama represent, perhaps, the UAW’s best chances to win its first victories in a decades-long effort to organize workers at non-union, foreign-owned U.S. auto plants.
Indeed, after winning record gains for UAW members at the Detroit Three auto companies last fall, UAW President Shawn Fain vowed workers at other automakers with non-union employees would be part of the next round of contract negotiations in 2028.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – OCTOBER 7: UAW President Shawn Fain greets members attending a rally in support … [+]
He echoed that confidence in a recent interview, saying, “We’ve seen a decade of massive profits from corporations and the wealthy. We’ve seen this massive growth in inequality between working class people and the wealthy and I think workers are fed up of being left behind and with going backwards at the expense of corporate greed.”
Jeremy Kimbrell, a 24-year veteran at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, is helping to organize the pro-union effort. He’s also bullish on the chances a majority of his co-workers will vote to join the UAW.
Jeremy Kimbrell, a 24-year worker and organizer at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama.
“Well, we don’t have we don’t have any other means to kind of kind of force the company to even sit down and talk with us or acknowledge us,” Kimbrell said in a recent interview.
Organization efforts are also underway at U.S. plants owned by Honda, Hyundai and Toyota and Fain has his sights set on workers at other non-union plants including Tesla.
The results of the vote at the Volkswagen plant are expected late Friday. If it’s successful, the UAW will finally chalk up its first win down South and raise its membership by more than 3,000 workers.
A win in Tennessee could provide momentum for success in Alabama and elsewhere as the union seeks to break its long losing streak in winning over workers in traditionally union-averse states and reverse years of declining membership.
