Uaw rivals corporate resistance: Volkswagen wins, Mercedes rejects

Uncertainty about the future of the automotive industry in the USA is causing more employees to consider joining organizations that protect their interests. However, this is not always successful.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) is the largest union in the USA representing automotive industry workers. The vast majority of employees at plenty of factories in the States belong to the UAW. One of the latest examples is the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, which was unionized after a recent vote.

Encouraged by their success in Tennessee, the UAW conducted a pro-union campaign at the Mercedes plant in Alabama. Despite a large turnout, they did not achieve victory.

Fifty-six percent of employees eligible to vote refused to join the United Auto Workers union. Despite this, the result should be considered a success. Peter Bible, who participated in the negotiations with employees, announced that the UAW would make further attempts to unionize the Mercedes plant and reminded them that Volkswagen failed on the first try.

UAW representatives attribute the defeat to a wide-ranging anti-union campaign. However, they hope that employees in Alabama will change their minds.

The UAW has repeatedly proven its strength in crises concerning mass layoffs or wage negotiations, supporting its members in the fight against not-always-fair employers.