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SOUTHERN AUTOWORKERS’ UNION DRIVES CAN HELP REVERSE DECADES OF JOB
QUALITY DECLINE  
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Marc Bayard, Dev Wakeley
April 29, 2024
Inequality.org
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_ On the heels of a UAW victory in Tennessee, Mercedes-Benz workers
are about to vote on unionization in Alabama. _

Organizers celebrate at a United Auto Workers vote watch party on
April 19, 2024 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Elijah Nouvelage/Getty
Images

 

 

The United Auto Workers recently scored the largest union victory in
decades in the South. Their success at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant
could be a turning point for labor in a region long known for
governmental hostility to unions.

The next test will be a UAW election scheduled for the week of May 13
at a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama, a state that has attracted so
much auto investment it has earned the nickname “the Detroit of the
South.”

If the roughly 5,000 Mercedes workers vote to unionize, the ripple
effects could empower workers nationwide.

For decades, Southern states have pursued “low-road” development
strategies, luring investors with massive public subsidies and
repressive labor policies. This has pitted workers in different
regions against each other, undercutting their ability to secure fair
compensation.

Alabama has spent $1.6 billion to woo Mercedes, along with Toyota,
Hyundai, and Honda. All these foreign companies’ operations in the
South are non-union, in contrast to the unionized Big Three of Ford,
GM, and Stellantis.

This foreign investment has created thousands of Alabama jobs — but
with weak worker protections, the state remains one of the nation’s
poorest. And while these companies have enjoyed rising corporate
profits, they have left workers behind.

An in-depth report
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by the nonprofit group Alabama Arise found that inflation-adjusted
average pay for the state’s autoworkers has dropped by 11 percent
over the past 20 years to $64,682. By contrast, CEO pay stands at
$13.9 million
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at Mercedes and $6.9 million
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at Toyota.

The foreign-owned firms’ payrolls also reflect Alabama’s long
history of racial discrimination, with Black and Latino workers
earning substantially less than their white counterparts. By contrast,
the Economic Policy Institute
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has found that union workers make 10.1 percent more on average than
non-union workers.

The benefits are even greater for workers of color. Unionized Black
workers make 13.1 percent more than non-union Black workers in
comparable jobs, and Latino union members make 18.8 percent more than
non-union Latino workers.

Equitable pay practices boost local economies by putting more money in
workers’ pockets for groceries, housing, and other goods and
services from local businesses. And that’s good for families of
every color.

But Alabama Governor Kay Ivey doesn’t see things that way. Before
the UAW vote in Tennessee, she joined GOP governors from Georgia,
Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas to discourage VW
workers from voting yes with unfounded threats of mass layoffs.

When 73 percent of those autoworkers voted for the UAW, it was a
strong rebuke of the region’s low-road, anti-worker model. So
corporate lobbyists in the region have further enlisted state
legislators and cabinet officials in a sustained campaign to blunt
organizing momentum.

How will the election turn out in Alabama?

A new poll
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indicates that 52 percent of residents in this deep-red state support
the autoworkers’ union drive, while just 21 percent are opposed.
This echoes a 2022 poll
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commissioned by the Institute for Policy Studies in Jefferson County,
Alabama, where workers were attempting to unionize an Amazon warehouse
in Bessemer. That survey showed nearly two-thirds support.

While the Alabama Amazon campaign fell short in the face of aggressive
anti-union tactics, increased public approval of unions is a testament
to many years of community and labor organizing.

The fact that a large majority of workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant
signed petitions earlier this year in support of the election is
encouraging. We need a New South economic structure based on fairness
and equity. Organized labor is an essential partner in that mission.

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_Marc Bayard directs the Black Worker Initiative at the __Institute
for Policy Studies._ [[link removed]]_ Dev Wakeley is __Alabama
Arise_ [[link removed]]_’s worker policy advocate. This
op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org. _

* Southern Auto Workers; Mercedes-Benz Union Election;
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