United Auto Workers (UAW) members and supporters stand on a picket line outside the ZF Chassis Systems plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Andy Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union is contesting the results of last week’s organizing vote by Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama — in which workers voted against union representation — and is asking federal officials to order a new election.
The union has made more than a dozen claims that the German carmaker fired four pro-union workers, forced workers to attend anti-union rallies and interfered with workers’ ability to defend the union.
The National Labor Relations Board confirmed Friday afternoon that its Atlanta office had received the election challenge from the UAW.
The unionization effort failed at the Alabama plant when 56 percent of voters, or 2,642 people, voted against the UAW, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversaw the election. More than 90 percent of Mercedes-Benz’s 5,075 workers who were eligible to vote in the election turned out to vote.
This is an ongoing story, please check back for additional updates.
