A new report from an Alabama advocacy group highlights glaring issues within the state’s auto industry and offers solutions. The State of Working Alabama 2023 report from the nonprofit Alabama Arise comes as conditions and wages for autoworkers continue to decline.
The study shows these employees in Alabama are being paid significantly less than they were compared to about twenty years ago. According to Alabama Arise, one crucial step to advance success in the state’s auto industry is boosting worker wages. Inflation-adjusted average wages for Alabama autoworkers were 11% lower in 2019 than in 2002. For context, that’s a $7,770 difference.
The report also finds that racial, gender and geographic pay disparities still persist. Data shows that Black autoworkers in Alabama on average received 83 cents for every dollar that a white autoworker received in 2019. For Hispanic autoworkers, that amount was 78 cents for every dollar that a white autoworker received. Women in Alabama’s auto industry earned just 73 cents for every dollar that men earned. The report also shows that the average pay for Alabama autoworkers has been consistently below the national average for decades.
“Many wage disparities in Alabama’s auto industry result from underrepresentation of women and people of color in high-wage occupations within the industry,” said Dev Wakeley, a worker policy advocate for Alabama Arise and co-author of the report, in a press release. “Employers should address these gaps through targeted hiring and training and with more consistent and advanced scheduling. Both employers and policymakers should do more to increase the availability and affordability of childcare.”
These pay disparities continue in the state as Alabama automakers have received more than $1.6 billion in public incentives since 1993. Wakeley said Unions could help with these issues.
“One of the biggest problems with the Alabama economy is the lack of workers who are represented by organized labor,” he said. “We know that wages rise for workers when workers are organized. One of the best ways to ensure that workers thrive is to increase union membership,” Wakeley explained. “Workers across the manufacturing sector and across every other sector, too, are starting to realize that organizing is where they get their power in the workplace and how you ensure democracy in the workplace.”
The industry has benefited Alabama in many ways, the report found, including employing more than 44,000 people and paying average wages that are higher than those for other workers in the state. However, wages for Alabama autoworkers still remain lower than they were in 2002. Wakeley said the problems in Alabama’s auto industry come from a lack of state management.
“It's a failure of regulation. The state really should be putting some robust standards into place,” he said. “If you're going to use public money to benefit a company and to allow it to expand within the state, you should be enforcing robust job standards. Those should include things like fair scheduling. And certainly, a prevailing wage standard that makes sure that we're not incentivizing companies to pay Alabamians less than the same work done in other states.”
The State of Working Alabama 2023 report from Alabama Arise also shows that state autoworkers are reportedly experiencing poor working conditions. The findings also detail instances of child labor use at some plants, among other issues. Alabama Arise is pushing for auto employers in Alabama to improve working conditions. The nonprofit conducted interviews with numerous autoworkers. They revealed concerns about promotion, disciplinary practices and changes in pay rates.
The report recommends employers address these concerns by ending tiered wage systems and enacting industry-standard workplace protections. The organization said this would, in turn, remove “arbitrary or bad-faith discipline decisions.”
The Alabama Arise report also urges employers to pursue community benefits agreements with local stakeholders to demonstrate their commitment to making a positive impact on the communities where they make their products and profits. Wakeley said these changes are needed because Alabama’s economy isn’t made to support auto industry workers.
“One of the problems with the Alabama economy is that it is historically extractive. It relies, both throughout history and currently, on taking money out of the hands of the people who do the work and giving it to the shareholders,” he explained. “And [the] people who in the case of these companies aren't even located in Alabama. So, while those dollars could be echoing throughout the Alabama economy and going to support both the auto workers and the auto workers, local businesses and the auto workers, schools, they're unfortunately leaving the state,” Wakeley continued. “As a result, Alabama doesn't get the full benefit of the economy.”
With Alabama employing more than 44,000 autoworkers, the report explained how Alabama could build on those successes by centering workers in its economic development strategy. Among the key recommendations:
· Policymakers should strengthen the wage, benefit and accountability standards for tax incentives and other state and local subsidies.
· Alabama should boost investments in K-12 education, childcare and workforce training.
· Automakers should raise worker pay to at least the same amount workers earned 20 years ago, adjusted for inflation.
· Automakers should eliminate pay disparities between men and women, between white people and people of color, and between workers in Alabama and other states.
· Employers and policymakers should recognize organized labor as a key partner in improving wages, working conditions, operations and productivity.
More details on the State of Working Alabama 2023 report from Alabama Arise can be found here.
