Workers at a Mercedes Benz factory in Vance, Alabama are set to vote between May 13 and May 17 on whether to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said. UAW has been making renewed attempts to bring factory employees of foreign-owned automakers in the US into its fold, and winning a vote to organise workers at Mercedes’ Tuscaloosa plant will be a big victory for the union.
The elections follow months of organising efforts at several non-union automakers owned by foreign companies such as Hyundai Motor, and Toyota Motor. In case of Mercedes, the factory workers earlier this month filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election to join the UAW.
Ever since the UAW won record contracts with the Detroit Three Automakers – General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis – it has increased calls to organise non-union automakers. This week, workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant will also be voting on their decision to join the union. The UAW organisers have twice lost a vote at that plant, narrowly missing a majority in 2014 and 2019.
The UAW said earlier this month that 5,200 eligible Mercedes workers at the plant and a nearby plant in Woodstock, Alabama signed cards to join the union.