United Auto Workers makes progress in effort to unionize Mercedes factory
The ambitious effort to unionize more than a dozen factories in Southern states comes after the UAW won record raises and other perks in new contracts with Ford, General Motors and Jeep-maker Stellantis last fall. Those companies operate largely in the industrial Midwest, which has long been the union’s stronghold.
Mercedes didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. In a video announcing the milestone, the union said more than 1,500 workers at the factory have signed the cards, typically the first step workers take when trying to form a union.
Adding factories in the South is an uphill battle for the UAW. Past efforts to unionize some of those plants failed in the face of local opposition from conservative politicians and skepticism from workers.
The union says worker attitudes toward unionization are becoming more favorable as younger and more diverse employees join the plants.
Public interest in unions is growing in the United States, but translating that into new members won’t be easy. Union membership has generally declined in recent decades, as the UAW itself shows. The union’s ranks have fallen sharply from a peak of about 1.5 million workers in the 1970s to about 400,000 members today in a variety of industries, including health care and academia. About 150,000 of its members work for automakers.
The Alabama factory is one of seven worldwide that Mercedes uses to make electric vehicles. It produces the all-electric EQS SUV, along with a variety of gasoline-powered SUVs.
Once 30 percent of eligible workers sign union cards, they have a right by law to call an election for whether the workplace wants to unionize, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In some cases, employers will voluntarily recognize a union without a vote, once a majority of workers have signed cards.
The UAW is aiming for a high level of card-signing to bolster its campaign. Officials have said that if an effort to organize hits the 30 percent threshold at a company, the union will publicly announce an organizing committee at the automaker and continue pushing to recruit more workers. If it hits 50 percent, the union said, it will organize a rally with UAW President Shawn Fain and workers at the factory. After 70 percent, the UAW will demand that the company recognize the union. If the company won’t, the union will ask the NLRB to hold an election.
