Below is a statement by Shawn Fain, President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), released by the union May 17, 2024. Fain was responding to the results of the union recognition vote at the Mercedes manufacturing complex in Alabama.
Workers at the Vance auto assembly plant, and a nearby battery facility, voted 2,642 to 2,045 against joining the UAW, according to the National Labor Relations Board. About 5,000 workers at the German automaker’s sprawling facilities were eligible to vote in the election, which means turnout exceeded 90%.
“While this loss stings, these workers keep their heads held high,” said Fain. “These workers will win their fair share. And we will be there every step of the way to support them.”
Fain had made the same point in a March 24 speech to Mercedes workers. “I came here not to win this thing for you. Not to tell you what to do,” Fain said. “The only people who can organize the South are the workers in the South.”
Putting the rank-and-file front and center has been essential to the union’s strategy since workers elected Fain in the first direct membership vote for UAW president in 2023. It has led to impressive accomplishments:
- The UAW’s major victory last fall in its strike against the Big Three — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis;
- The broad organizing campaign the union launched on the heels of that walkout;
- A decisive win for the union at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee last month;
- A UAW contract with Daimler Truck registering major wage and other gains for 7,300 workers in three states — Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee — that UAW members overwhelmingly ratified on May 4.
These developments are all evidence of a new rise in rank-and-file activity and confidence that the union belongs to the membership and will act in its interests.
Workers in Alabama faced an aggressive anti-union campaign mounted by Mercedes, unlike at Volkswagen, where management remained largely neutral toward the union effort.
“For months, Mercedes started shifts by showing videos that warned about the failures of unions and the lack of say workers have in how their union dues are spent,” reported National Public Radio (NPR).
“As the election drew close, workers say they also got text messages on their phones and were pulled into small group meetings with lawyers from an outside consulting group.
“‘The entire message in those meetings is Vote no, vote no, vote no. We don’t think you need to do this. This is not what you want,’ said David Johnston, who works at the battery plant.”
Leading up to the election, the company hung “vote no” signs outside the main entrance of the plants and circulated anti-union literature.
Alabama business leaders, politicians, and clergy had also stepped in to warn workers against voting for the union. Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, posted on the social media platform X that the UAW is “corrupt, shifty, and a dangerous leech.”
Using the method of the carrot and the stick, Mercedes made a move to appease workers in addition to its barrage of anti-union propaganda. “Two weeks before the election, the company announced a CEO change in Alabama and urged workers to give the new leadership a chance,” NPR reported.
“That’s exactly what Volkswagen told its workers in 2019,” Fain explained. “And in 2024, Volkswagen workers realized it’s not about a CEO. It’s about a voice on the job, it’s about getting our lives back, and getting our time back. The only path to do that is through a union contract.”
Volkswagen workers did not win union recognition the first time they tried either. Two efforts — in 2014 and 2019 — failed before the overwhelming vote in April to join the UAW. The recent vote was the first time Mercedes workers succeeded in organizing a union election.
“This is a David and Goliath fight,” said Fain. “Sometimes Goliath wins a battle. But David wins the war.”
The UAW had previously announced progress in workers signing union authorization cards at two other facilities — a Hyundai auto assembly plant in Montgomery, Alabama, and a Toyota engine factory in Troy, Missouri. It is not clear now what may come next in the UAW organizing drive. But Fain’s statement makes plain that the UAW remains committed to this fight, with whatever ups and downs may lie ahead.
The Mercedes vote is a setback, the UAW president acknowledged. “What matters is what you do with that experience,” he added.
The text of the statement that follows and the headline are taken from the original. Photos are by World-Outlook.
—World-Outlook editors
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Statement from UAW President Shawn Fain on Mercedes Alabama Vote
These courageous workers at Mercedes reached out to the UAW because they wanted justice. They led us. And they lead us. What happens next is up to them.
Justice isn’t about one vote or one campaign. It’s about getting a voice, getting your fair share. And let’s be clear: workers won serious gains in this campaign. They raised their wages, with the “UAW bump.” They killed wage tiers. They got rid of a CEO who had no interest in improving conditions in the workplace. Mercedes is a better place to work thanks to this campaign, and thanks to these courageous workers.
The company told the workers to give the new CEO a chance. That’s exactly what Volkswagen told its workers in 2019. And in 2024, Volkswagen workers realized it’s not about a CEO. It’s about a voice on the job, it’s about getting our lives back, and getting our time back. The only path to do that is through a union contract.
Mercedes engaged in egregious illegal behavior. The federal government as well as the German government are currently investigating Mercedes for the intimidation and harassment they inflicted on their own workers. We intend to follow that process through.
This is a David and Goliath fight. Sometimes Goliath wins a battle. But David wins the war.
These workers will win their fair share. And we will be there every step of the way to support them.
We’ve been here before. We know what we’re taking on. This company, like most corporations, operated off the same old playbook of fear, threats and intimidation.
Our fight is also in the halls of the legislatures of this country. Sixty million Americans say they’d join a union if given the option. Polling here in Alabama and in Tennessee show people supported the UAW by a two to one margin. But with weak labor laws in place, sometimes the companies are able to turn those numbers around.
The UAW will continue to lead the fight against corporate greed and runaway inequality. And through that fight we’ll change the nation and the world for the better.
While this loss stings, these workers keep their heads held high. We fight the good fight and continue forward.
And the workers here ultimately will win. Most of us have lost elections in our lives and I know I’ve always learned from it. What matters is what you do with that experience.
We put everything we had in this fight, we left nothing on the table. I look at John Wooden’s definition of success: “Success is the peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you’re capable. Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
There are more than 2,000 workers at Mercedes in Alabama who want to join our union. They aren’t going away. The sun will rise, and the sun will set, and our fight for justice for the working class will continue.
May 17, 2024
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Categories: Labor Movement / Trade Unions
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