The American union United Auto Workers has suffered a major setback in its efforts to move into the factories of foreign automakers. A majority of employees at the two Mercedes-Benz plants in the state of Alabama voted against allowing her to represent them in the future. The company has a production facility for cars and one for batteries here, which employs a total of more than 5,000 people. As recently as April, employees at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee voted with a clear majority of 73 percent for the UAW to move in. At Mercedes-Benz, 56 percent of the votes cast were now against the union. The UAW had hoped that with an election victory at Mercedes-Benz it would be able to take another step towards expanding its territory in the auto industry. For decades, their presence was essentially limited to the so-called “Big Three”, i.e. General Motors, Ford and today’s Stellantis Group, which includes American brands such as Jeep. It was largely ignored by foreign manufacturers. This also had to do with the fact that many of these companies located their American plants in southern regions of the country that are traditionally not very union-friendly. All German manufacturers, VW, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, also set up shop here. Supporters of the United Auto Workers union.APThe situation changed last fall when the UAW was able to obtain significant wage increases in collective bargaining negotiations with GM, Ford and Stellantis. She used this to launch a broad campaign to organize other manufacturers into unions. In addition to German companies, she also targeted the American electric car manufacturer Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk is a declared opponent of unions. Possibly in order to take the wind out of the UAW’s sails, many companies where it is not yet represented have significantly increased their wages after the collective bargaining agreement with US manufacturers. “It’s a battle of David against Goliath.” The momentum , which the union had recently, has now been stopped for the time being, and its hopes of a triumphant march through the American South have suffered a setback. UAW President Shawn Fain was nevertheless combative on Friday after the results were announced: “It’s a battle of David versus Goliath. “Sometimes Goliath wins a battle, but in the end David will win the war.” Nobody wins “100 percent of the time,” and the union will continue its campaign. Locations of Asian manufacturers are considered possible next targets, including a plant belonging to the Korean Hyundai Group, which is also located in Alabama. The defeat for the union was somewhat surprising, but observers had expected that things could be more difficult for them this time than at VW in Tennessee. She has been met with a lot of hostility in Alabama in recent weeks. Gov. Kay Ivey spoke out against her, calling her a “threat” to the state’s economy, while Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter described her as a “bloodsucker.” Just at the beginning of this week, a law was passed here according to which companies will be denied public subsidies in the future if they show accommodation towards unions, for example by voluntarily recognizing them in their company. Gov. Ivey said Friday after the count ended, in reference to the famous song “Sweet Home Alabama,” that her state is not a “sweet home” for the UAW. Union leader Fain said, referring to the local politicians: “Shame on them.” Just a few weeks ago, the UAW was able to celebrate a success with the truck manufacturer Daimler Truck, the former sister company of Mercedes-Benz. It is represented in its factory in the state of North Carolina, and here it was able to negotiate similar wage increases in collective bargaining negotiations as it did with American car manufacturers last fall. However, this apparently left the majority of Mercedes employees in Alabama unimpressed.More on the topicMercedes-Benz, like VW, has not officially taken a position for or against the UAW and has said that it respects the rights of its workforce to form employee representatives. However, the company signaled in advance of the vote that it would prefer the union to fail. The UAW, like VW before it, accused him of using illegal methods and engaging in so-called “union busting” to keep the union away. It has filed several complaints about this with the responsible American labor authority, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). She has also officially complained in Germany. She complained to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control about a violation of regulations in the new supply chain law, which obliges companies to respect human rights, including free trade union formation. UAW chief Fain said Friday that Mercedes-Benz had been less neutral than VW and had “threatened” and “intimidated” its employees. However, he initially left it open whether the union would take legal action against the election results. Mercedes-Benz said on Friday that it looked forward to continuing to work “directly” with its employees.
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