Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama vote against UAW membership

[OSR stands with Israel]

https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1791558238783356953

This is great news as the UAW under current leadership is terrible and we should hope their plans for a general strike in 2028 don’t come to pass

[Vice President Christian Man]

There should be an investigation into whether management coerced their actions.

[GP270watch]

https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1791558238783356953

This is great news as the UAW under current leadership is terrible and we should hope their plans for a general strike in 2028 don’t come to pass

 UAW leadership got their members a pay raise when the companies and media were conspiring to say that it was unaffordable to the companies. UAW leadership was right because the companies later admitted after the autoworkers won the negotiations that the salary increases weren't a big deal and they still had excess cash for dividends and buybacks at Ford and GM.

[MyLifeIsYours]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

[Vice President Christian Man]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

I think there's a cultural aspect to it too (We're not Yankee Socialists etc..) and how unions have been associated as such in that region since at least the 1950's, but the sooner labor can convince them that they support them the better.

[wnwnwn]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

I think there's a cultural aspect to it too (We're not Yankee Socialists etc..) and how unions have been associated as such in that region since at least the 1950's, but the sooner labor can convince them that they support them the better.

The south has long time been antiunion, even when they kind of supported fiscal progresivism in the 1930s.

[Ancestral Republican]

Time to pass the PRO Act to strengthen and enforce current laws against union busting activities.

[jojoju1998]

45 percent voted for it. Not bad.

[politicallefty]

There should be an investigation into whether management coerced their actions.

I'd be looking at the state of Alabama itself, though I'm not sure what federal remedies are available against the state if that were the case.

The repeal of Section 14(b) of Taft-Hartley needs to be a top priority for the next Democratic trifecta.

[jojoju1998]

There should be an investigation into whether management coerced their actions.

I'd be looking at the state of Alabama itself, though I'm not sure what federal remedies are available against the state if that were the case.

The repeal of Section 14(b) of Taft-Hartley needs to be a top priority for the next Democratic trifecta.

Not defending  Mercedez Benz, but if we compare the Union Structure in the US vs. Germany, there's probably a reason Mercedez Benz might be more hesitant about working with US Union vs. a German Union.


The relationship between companies and unions in germany are more.... cooperative than in the US. For one thing, as in many European countries, the Unions don't have to negotiate that much, since most benefits are provided by the state; healthcare, pensions. So German Unions don't... do that much.

[MarkD]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

Maybe it's a sign that companies have learned to treat their employees so well that a majority of employees do not look on management as enemies and they don't need a union to be respected.

[jojoju1998]

Also unlike the US, European Unions practice sectorial barganing where agreements cover an entire industry, unlike the US where a Union like the UAW would negotiate with each and every company.

Most experts would say that Sectorial Barganing is far more better.

That's why another reason I think mercedez benz might be slightly more hesitant to work with a US Unions.

They're not comfortable with the type of union negotiation that is common in the US.

[jojoju1998]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

Maybe it's a sign that companies have learned to treat their employees so well that a majority of employees do not look on management as enemies and they don't need a union to be respected.

Or maybe, Mercedez Benz is more comfortable dealing with European Unions vs. US Unions.

As I said already, European Unions are FAR more cooperative. They have far less things to hassle about.

And they practice sectorial barganing which covers entire industries rather than the enterprise System in the US.

[Indy Texas]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

I think there's a cultural aspect to it too (We're not Yankee Socialists etc..) and how unions have been associated as such in that region since at least the 1950's, but the sooner labor can convince them that they support them the better.

The south has long time been antiunion, even when they kind of supported fiscal progresivism in the 1930s.

"Fiscal progressivism" that transfers wealth from the Northern middle class via federal taxes to build bridges and dams and roads in the South that they could and should have built themselves is not progressivism. It's just regionalist welfare chauvinism.

[jojoju1998]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

I think there's a cultural aspect to it too (We're not Yankee Socialists etc..) and how unions have been associated as such in that region since at least the 1950's, but the sooner labor can convince them that they support them the better.

The south has long time been antiunion, even when they kind of supported fiscal progresivism in the 1930s.

"Fiscal progressivism" that transfers wealth from the Northern middle class via federal taxes to build bridges and dams and roads in the South that they could and should have built themselves is not progressivism. It's just regionalist welfare chauvinism.

Reconstruction should never have ended. The US should have focused on actually building real solid infrastructure in the South after the Civil War...

[wnwnwn]

Always a bad sign when people vote against unionization of their workforce. With the benefits of having a union(better pay, pension plan) you will be better off than what you will be getting at the rate you are working. Hope unions will continue campaigning in the deep red South, because to revitalize labor in the US we need to target the right to work states run by enemies of the worker. You can't have worker solidarity in one region without having the backing of the rest of the nation.

I think there's a cultural aspect to it too (We're not Yankee Socialists etc..) and how unions have been associated as such in that region since at least the 1950's, but the sooner labor can convince them that they support them the better.

The south has long time been antiunion, even when they kind of supported fiscal progresivism in the 1930s.

"Fiscal progressivism" that transfers wealth from the Northern middle class via federal taxes to build bridges and dams and roads in the South that they could and should have built themselves is not progressivism. It's just regionalist welfare chauvinism.

Well, it was not only infraestructure. It was also banking, regulation, etc. Remmeber who wrote the Glass-Steagall Act: two southerns. It was all on southern interests (like free trade), one can say. Let's remember that the 'Old Right'of Harry Byrd appeared just after the Wagner National Labor Relations Act.

[Podgy the Bear]

As backward as Tennessee is, Alabama is even more so.  Nevertheless, VW unionized in Chattanooga, and the Mercedes vote was 45 percent yes.

At the very least, the threat to unionize caused Mercedes to increase salaries somewhat and to provide further bonuses.  So I would say the UAW and the union-friendlier NLRB made some positive impact for the workers.  And the opportunity to vote again will come back soon.

[Diabolical Materialism]

I'm impressed that the UAW managed to get a vote going in the first place. And that margin is nothing to sneeze at either. Would we have liked to see the vote pass? Of course, but coming this close is a win in itself. I'd be very surprised if this is the last and only vote at that factory.