Mercedes-Benz employees in Alabama voted against forming a union, dealing a blow to the United Autoworkers Union’s efforts to spread its membership at car factories in the south. Fifty-six percent of eligible ballots cast voted against joining the union, said the National Labor Relations Committee.
Although the UAW had a big win last month after employees at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee voted to unionize, making inroads in Alabama has proven to be much tougher. Governor Kay Ivey called the UAW’s campaign a “threat from Detroit” and said it put the state’s car industry at risk.
Regulators are looking into claims that Mercedes-Benz violate labor laws by prohibiting the distribution of union materials and punishing employees who spoke about or support the campaign. Mercedes denies the allegations, stating that it respected the staff’s right to choose.
