Union Momentum in Southern Organizing Chilled by Mercedes Vote

Unions have been on a "roll" in recent months, seemingly winning big strikes and major organizing campaigns.  The United Auto Workers (UAW) is one of the leaders of this momentum, winning a major strike against the "Big Three" automakers and winning a union vote at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee recently.  Most predicted this momentum would continue in an election held at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, but the workers there voted to remain union-free by almost 60% of the vote.  The UAW has also suffered some other recent setbacks, as workers at a Nissan facility in New Jersey voted to decertify the union.  Union President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a monitor appointed by a federal court as a follow up to multi-year corruption scandal in the union which saw several of its officers go to jail.  Fain personally is being investigated for favoritism to his fiancé.

Editor's Note:   As expected, the UAW claimed the election at Mercedes was unfair, which unions always do when they lose.  They are seeking support from their friends at the NLRB.   It has also been revealed that Virginia Foxx, Chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, is looking into talks between a senior White House official and Germany about the union election at the Mercedes plants in Alabama.  Allegedly, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan prodded Germany to investigate allegations of union suppression at the plant, at the behest of UAW President Fain.   Foxx wrote Sullivan, "It also suggests the UAW sought to use your influence in the White House's bully pulpit to impact the union representation election."  The UAW has become very important to the Biden Administration in delivering its working-class members in Midwestern swing states. 

This article is part of our August 2024 Newsletter. 

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