Workers at the Mercedes Benz U. S. The International Auto Workers Union in Tuscaloosa appears to have voted against joining the United Auto Workers union, according to unofficial reports Friday afternoon, dealing a blow to the union after a series of victories.
Successful moves in Detroit’s “Big Three” and beyond last year resulted in increased contracts for more than 100,000 employees and sparked a UAW crusade to expand into the hitherto impenetrable Deep South.
Last month, that momentum led to a successful vote at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where an overwhelming 73% of staff voted to enroll in the UAW.
The union seemed poised to win the vote here in Tuscaloosa after temporarily getting a large majority to sign interest cards earlier this year. However, a backlash through Mercedes, the hiring of a new CEO, and an avalanche of messages from politicians at the local level and state titles appear to have played a role enough to doom this week’s vote.
Mercedes’ vote was a secret poll conducted through the National Labor Relations Board this week, and the plant’s polling stations accepted votes as of Monday.
Voting ended on Friday morning at 9:45 a. m. and the count began around 1:00 p. m. , after collecting all ballots from seven polling stations spread across the assembly areas, the carpentry workshop, the paint shop and the factory’s battery factory.
The results were posted in real time on the UAW website, and when the votes were posted, the “yes” votes never had an advantage: the votes against the union club prevailed at 55-45% throughout the afternoon.
With about 5,100 eligible voters in MBUSI, it is evident that the anti-UAW votes prevailed just after 2:30 p. m. m. , when the results showed 2,600 votes against and just over 2,000 votes in favor of unionization.
UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to speak to the media and UAW supporters at Highway headquarters Friday afternoon.
For more information as soon as it’s available, stay tuned to the Tuscaloosa thread.
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
In a defeat for the United Auto Workers union, Mercedes Benz U. S. Tuscaloosa International voted against joining its ranks this week, for the purposes of Friday afternoon.
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Workers at the Mercedes Benz U. S. The International Auto Workers Union in Tuscaloosa appears to have voted against joining the United Auto Workers union, according to unofficial reports Friday afternoon, dealing a blow to the union after a series of victories.
Successful moves in Detroit’s “Big Three” and beyond last year resulted in increased contracts for more than 100,000 employees and sparked a UAW crusade to expand into the hitherto impenetrable Deep South.
Last month, that momentum led to a successful vote at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where an overwhelming 73 percent of staff voted to join the UAW.
The union seemed poised to win the vote here in Tuscaloosa after temporarily getting a large majority to sign interest cards earlier this year. However, a backlash through Mercedes, the hiring of a new chief executive and an avalanche of messages from politicians at the local level and state titles appear to have played a role enough to doom this week’s vote.
Mercedes’ vote was a secret poll conducted through the National Labor Relations Board this week, and the plant’s polling stations accepted votes as of Monday.
Voting ended on Friday morning at 9:45 a. m. and counting began around 1:00 p. m. , once all the ballots had been collected from seven polling stations spread across the assembly areas, the carpentry workshop, the paint shop and the factory’s battery factory.
The results were posted in real time on the UAW website, and when the votes were posted, the “yes” votes never had an advantage: the votes against the union club prevailed at 55-45% throughout the afternoon.
With about 5,100 eligible voters in MBUSI, it is evident that the anti-UAW votes prevailed just after 2:30 p. m. m. , when the results showed 2,600 votes against and just over 2,000 votes in favor of unionization.
UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to speak to the media and UAW supporters at Highway headquarters Friday afternoon.
For more information as soon as it’s available, stay tuned to the Tuscaloosa thread.