The United Auto Workers (UAW) union filed a petition with the National Labour Relations Board on Friday, requesting a new election at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama. This comes after the union faced defeat in a vote held at the plant last week.
In the filing, the UAW alleges that Mercedes-Benz engaged in an aggressive anti-union campaign, including terminating employees who supported the union and conducting mandatory meetings where anti-union sentiments were propagated. The union claims that these actions by the automaker were part of a “relentless anti-union campaign” aimed at influencing the outcome of the election.
“We sincerely hoped the UAW would respect our team members’ decision. Throughout the election, we worked with the NLRB to adhere to its guidelines and we will continue to do so as we work through this process,” a Mercedes spokesperson said.
The UAW suffered a setback when approximately 56 per cent of the nearly 5,000 workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, and its nearby battery factory voted against unionisation. This defeat came shortly after the union’s historic victory last month at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee.
In its filing, the UAW alleges that Mercedes’ efforts to influence the vote constituted unfair labour practices and prevented employees from exercising their free choice, thereby warranting a new election.
A spokesperson for the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) stated that a regional director will review the union’s objection and could decide to hold a hearing in the coming weeks.
The unionisation campaign at Mercedes was much more contentious compared to the one at Volkswagen, where the company maintained a neutral stance, according to the union and labour experts.
For instance, Mercedes leaders frequently directed employees’ attention to signs inside the plant urging them to vote against unionisation, as evidenced by workers’ accounts and photographs reviewed by Reuters.
Mercedes also replaced the chief executive of its U.S. business just weeks before the vote and encouraged employees to give him a chance, which some workers believed added strength to the anti-union campaign.