Mercedes Workers Reject Union In Alabama In Setback For Labor

New York, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2024) Workers at Mercedes-Benz's Alabama facilities have rejected a union drive in a setback to the United Auto Workers' ambitious campaign to organize the American South, according to results released Friday by US authorities.

A preliminary tally had 2,642 voting against unionization and 2,045 in favor, a margin of 56 to 44 percent, according to the National Labor Relations board, which oversaw a five-day vote at the Mercedes auto manufacturing plant and battery complex near Tuscaloosa.

Led by President Shawn Fain, the UAW had high hopes for a second victory after winning an April election at Volkswagen in Tennessee -- the first successful union drive at a plant in a southern US state operated by a foreign automaker.

"The workers in Vance have spoken, and they have spoken clearly!" Alabama's Republican Governor Kay Ivey wrote on X.

"Alabama is not Michigan, and we are not the Sweet Home to the UAW," said Ivey, who has fought unionization at Mercedes and at another plant operated by Hyundai.