Workers from one of the largest non-unionized auto plants in the U.S. are speaking about the push to hold a union election. Thirty percent of staff at the Mercedes-Benz plant outside of Tuscaloosa in Vance have signed a labor unionization card. This means they’re in support of joining the United Auto Workers and meet the minimum threshold of support the National Labor Relations Board requires to hold a union election.
This comes off the heels of UAW’s Stand Up Strike against the so-called Big Three. Back in September, thousands of workers struck for over 40 days to win record contracts at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
Workers said one of the leading forces that lead to the Alabama plant’s union organization is low pay among the autoworkers. UAW said over the last decade, Mercedes made $156 billion is total profit. The car manufacture’s profits have grown 200% in the past three years. With the company’s financial success, many of its autoworkers said they feel that they should be earning more money.
“Mercedes Benz builds one of the most expensive cars in the world, and we build some of the most high profitability vehicles that Mercedes has here,” said Jeremy Kimbrell, an autoworker for the Mercedes-Benz plant since 1999. “There's no shortage of money, and just because we live in Alabama, we shouldn't make less money.”
Kimbrell is a supporter of the union and has worked for Mercedes-Benz for 24 years. He said employees often work 10-hour days with 35-to-45-minute lunch breaks. Many workers are scheduled on weekends and are not able to see their families. With the two-tier pay system, newer employees are getting paid significantly less, while no one is seeing any raises.
“As the car plants move South, they pay less and [give] less benefits. It seems like each one that's come on the scene has tried to pay less than the one that was before,” said Kimbrell. “Mercedes has been one of the ones that's non-union and has paid a little more than rest. But in last few years, they're not giving us raises. That's kind of slowed down, and others have called up, but each one paying less,” he continued.
Just weeks after non-union workers across the nation started organizing to join the UAW, auto workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant are hoping to receive some of the same benefits from the unionization.
“Lots of times in a non-union world, they can lay you off or put you on short work. The Big Three have shown through their negotiations that they have supplemental pay, and [car manufactures] are not going corners at the expense of the workers,” said Kimbrell.
Kimbrell said he believes that if the plant unionizes, the gains that they reach will be beneficial to other surrounding plants and suppliers in Alabama.
“It's going to it's going to bleed out into the surrounding community and also throughout the rest of Alabama, the other auto plants as well as their suppliers,” he explained. “I truly believe it's going to raise the living standard of the state across the board over time.”
In response to the plant’s push to unionize, Gov. Kay Ivey expressed her support for Alabama employers rather than the autoworker’s decision to unionize.
For more information about the unionization of the Mercedes-Benz plant, visit the UAW website on the topic.
