Members and supporters of the United Auto Workers (UAW) picket outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S., Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Andy Rice | Bloomberg | Good pictures
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union is challenging the results of last week’s Mercedes-Benz workers’ referendum in Alabama, in which workers voted against union representation, and is asking federal officials to order new elections.
In a dozen or so claims, the Detroit union alleges the German automaker fired four pro-union workers, forced workers to attend anti-union meetings and interfered with workers’ ability to advocate for the union.
The union lost at the Alabama plant with 56% of the vote, or 2,642 workers, voting against the UAW, according to the NLRB, which oversaw the election. More than 90% of the 5,075 eligible Mercedes-Benz workers voted in the election.
“What these workers have always wanted is a voice at work and a fair say in their working conditions,” the UAW said in a statement. “That’s what we’re asking for here. Let’s get a vote at Mercedes in Alabama that they’re not allowed to fire people, they’re not allowed to threaten people, they’re not allowed to break the law and their own. Corporate code, and let the workers decide.”
The National Labor Relations Board confirmed Friday afternoon that its Atlanta-based office had received the UAW’s objections to the election. Friday is the last day for the union to object and challenge the election.
Mercedes-Benz said in a statement Friday that company officials “worked with the NLRB to comply with its guidelines, and we will continue to do so” through the objection process. “We sincerely hope that the UAW will respect the decision of our board members,” the automaker said.
The NLRB said its regional director will review the UAW’s allegations of unfair elections. If she finds that the objections raise substantial and important issues which can best be resolved by a trial, she will order a trial. If, after investigation, he finds that the conduct of the employer vitiated the election, he may order a new election.
The company also reaffirmed 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, the UAW president Sean Fine He accused the company of waging an anti-union campaign, including “gross illegal conduct,” but he declined to discuss the union’s possible plans to challenge the decisions.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fine during an online broadcast to update union members on negotiations with Detroit automakers on Oct. 6, 2023.
Screenshot
On May 17, the union said it would continue to move forward with its allegations against Mercedes-Benz, which alleges Mercedes-Benz “disciplined employees to discuss unionization on the job, prohibited distribution of union goods and equipment, monitored employees, discharged union.” “The supporters forced employees to attend captive audience meetings and issued statements that union action was futile,” the NLRB previously said.
The Alabama results are a blow to the UAW’s organizing efforts, a month after a victory for about 4,330 Volkswagen plant workers in Tennessee.
The Mercedes-Benz vote was expected to be more challenging for the union than the vote at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, where the union already has a lead after two failed organizing drives in the past decade, facing little opposition from the automaker. .
