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‘READY TO WIN’: MERCEDES-BENZ WORKERS IN ALABAMA MOVE TO JOIN UAW
 
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Thor Benson
February 27, 2024
Common Dreams [[link removed]]

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_ "We're here to tell you that we are the majority. Mercedes workers
are ready to stand up." _

Workers protest during recent UAW strike., Cydni Elledge for The New
York Times

 

The United Auto Workers announced Tuesday that a majority of the
approximately 6,000 workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama
have indicated
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support joining the union.

That's the largest Mercedes-Benz plant in the U.S., and getting more
than half of its employees to sign union cards is a major win for the
UAW.

"We're here today to make a major announcement. A majority of our
co-workers at Mercedes here in Alabama have signed our union cards and
are ready to win our union and a better life with the UAW," Mercedes
worker Jeremy Kimbrell said in a statement. "We haven't taken this
step lightly. For years, we've fallen further behind while Mercedes
has made billions."

Kimbrell cited insufficient wage increases and the abuse of temporary
workers as reasons the plant should be unionized. Volkswagen workers
in Chattanooga, Tennessee achieved
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support for joining the UAW earlier this month. This indicates the UAW
is making gains in the South, which has historically been a difficult
task.

The UAW has been working hard to fight for autoworkers and expand the
union over the past year, and it was able to get improved contracts
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Three" auto companies—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—after a
six-week strike last year.

President Joe Biden even became
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sitting U.S. president to join striking workers on a picket line. The
UAW later went on to endorse
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and declare that former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican
nominee, is a "scab."

Rather than slowing its efforts to improve conditions for autoworkers
after its win with the Big Three, the UAW instead proceeded to launch
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organizing drive in modern American history." The union clearly has
momentum and no plans to stop its fight for workers' rights, and the
Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama achieving majority support for
unionization is just the latest example.

"There comes a time when enough is enough," Kimbrell said. "Now is
that time. We know what the company, what the politicians, and what
their multi-millionaire buddies will say. They'll say now is not the
right time. Or that this is not the right way. But here's the thing.
This is our decision. It's our life. It's our community. These are our
families. It's up to us."

_Thor Benson is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* UAW
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* union organizing
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* Alabama
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* Mercedes-Benz
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