Tag Archive for: Mercedes

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Fall 2024 Issue of Solidarity Magazine is Now Online!

The new Fall 2024 issue of Solidarity Magazine is now available. 

You can download it here, and share it with fellow UAW members.

In this issue:

  • VOLKSWAGEN WORKERS MAKE HISTORY: The recent union election victory at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, TN, marks a monumental achievement after years of persistent organizing.
  • MERCEDES WORKERS: After workers at Volkswagen won their union, workers at Mercedes were organizing to do the same. Workers courageously stepped up to fight for the voice they knew they deserved.
  • STAND UP BMW: In July, a small but mighty group of BMW workers at the distribution center in Palmer Township, Pennsylvania, pushed back on one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world — and won!
  • DAIMLER TRUCK: After mounting a massive campaign and building a serious strike threat against Daimler Truck this spring, UAW members at the multibillion-dollar manufacturer won a historic agreement by uniting across local unions — a first — and shifting to one common wage grid.
  • 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: In 2024, we’re taking our Stand Up playbook and bringing it to the political scene because the same bosses who beat us up on the job and fight us at the negotiating table are hell-bent on owning our political system as well.
  • And more!
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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. 

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Mercedes-Benz Under Investigation by German Government for Illegally Violating Workers Rights at Alabama Plant

The German government is officially investigating Mercedes-Benz Group AG for the company’s illegal anti-union conduct at the Mercedez-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama. Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control announced the formal investigation yesterday. 

Voting is currently underway at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where a supermajority of workers have come out in support of the union and have been subjected to a brutal, months-long campaign of illegal intimidation by management and outside anti-union consultants hired by the company.  

“Autoworkers in Alabama should have the same rights and be treated with the same respect as autoworkers in Germany,” said Jeremy Kimbrell, who has worked at the plant since 1999. “My coworkers and I are grateful to the German government for taking our testimonies and the evidence we have provided seriously and taking the first steps to hold the lawless, reckless Mercedes managers in Alabama accountable for their action.” 

The UAW filed charges against Mercedes-Benz Group AG in early April for violating Germany’s new law on global supply chain practices. Mercedes-Benz’s aggressive anti-union campaign against U.S. autoworkers in Alabama is a clear human rights violation under the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains. Mercedes-Benz could face billions in penalties, including significant fines and bans on government contracts. 

The Alabama plant is operated by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), a subsidiary of Stuttgart-based Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The UAW complaint details how MBUSI has intimidated, threatened and even fired Alabama workers in violation of U.S. labor law and International Labor Organization Conventions. The complaint documents seven violations of the German act, including:

  • The firing of a union supporter with Stage 4 cancer. The employee had been allowed to have his cellphone with him at work so he could receive updates on the availability of his scarce chemo drug. But a supervisor who has intimidated union supporters claimed there was a zero-tolerance policy on cellphones and had him fired.
  • A January letter from MBUSI CEO Michael Göbel to employees that attempted to chill union activity and violated their freedom of association. The letter was filled with stock phrases used by anti-union consultants designed to stoke fear, uncertainty, and division.
  • A mandatory plant-wide meeting Göbel held in February to discourage workers from unionizing. At this meeting, Göbel told workers “I don’t believe the UAW can help us to be better” and that they “shouldn’t have to pay union dues that generate millions of dollars per year for an organization where you have no transparency where that money is used.”
  • Another mandatory plant-wide meeting in February that featured former University of Alabama football Coach Nick Saban. Before and during the meeting, MBUSI supervisors attempted to stop union supporters from passing out UAW hats.

Despite the company’s anti-union campaign, a supermajority of MBUSI workers publicly support the union and workers are confident that they will win their union when ballots are tallied on Friday, May 17th. They will become the second Southern auto plant to vote to join the UAW in less than 30 days, and the second of dozens of non-union auto plants that are actively organizing across the country. 

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“Living Large at Mercedes?”: New UAW Video Exposes Staggering CEO Pay at Mercedes Ahead of Alabama Plant Union Vote

In a new video, non-union autoworkers from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala., share the staggering  compensation that Mercedes executives enjoy while workers struggle with the “Alabama Discount.” Workers in the video contrast the 80% pay raise Mercedes CEO Dimitris Psillakis got last year against the meager increases given to workers.  

The video can be accessed at this link, and the media is invited to use the footage. The transcript of the video, which features three Mercedes workers, reads as follows:  

“Let’s talk about fairness at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama.  

“In the plush offices of Mercedes executives, something outrageous is happening. Last year, Mercedes CEO saw his pay increase by a staggering 80%. Not stopping there. The entire Mercedes management board chose to give themselves a 78% pay increase last year. That’s over $27 million in raises for only eight people.  

“It would take a production worker at top pay two years to earn what a Mercedes executive earns in just one week. But what about the hardworking Mercedes employees right here in Alabama? This year, Mercedes announced they were giving us a meager 6% pay increase. That’s what we call the Alabama Discount, and we’re going to bring it to an end. It’s time for change at Mercedes. It’s time for justice in Alabama. It’s time for Mercedes workers to Stand Up.” 

The video dropped on the heels of Friday evening’s historic tentative agreement at Daimler Truck, where 7,000 UAW members in the South won a contract with record raises, the end of tiers and, for the first-time ever for Daimler workers, profit-sharing and cost-of-living adjustments.  

The Daimler contract victory is another major win for the UAW following last fall’s record contracts at the Big Three automakers after their 44-day Stand-Up Strike. More than 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed UAW cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing.  

Last week, autoworkers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN, made history by overwhelmingly voting to join the UAW, the first auto plant in the South to unionize in decades.   

The 5,000 workers at Mercedes-Benz in Vance, Ala., will have their vote to join the UAW from May 13 to 17. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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“The Time is Now”: Mercedes workers in Alabama to vote for union May 13-17

VANCE, Ala. –  5,000 Mercedes workers will have an opportunity to vote to form their union in less than a month.  The election will be held in-person at the Mercedes plant May 13 – 17 in Vance, Alabama. The vote will be administered by the National Labor Relations Board.  

“Workers at our plant are ready for this moment,” said Jeremy Kimbrell, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “We are ready to vote yes because we are ready to win our fair share. We are going to end the Alabama discount and replace it with what our state actually needs. Workers sticking together and sticking by our community.” 

“The time is now,” said Latesha Henry, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “It’s time to regain family work life balance and make history at Mercedes. I want this to be a job that generation after generation would be proud to have.” 

The vote at Mercedes will come just a few weeks after workers at Volkswagen vote on unionizing with UAW in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That vote is currently underway, and it is anticipated that ballots will be counted Friday evening after voting ends.  

Should workers at both plants vote to unionize, nearly 10,000 autoworkers across the South will have voted to join UAW in less than a month. 

In addition to Mercedes and Volkswagen, thousands more autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns at Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala. and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at more than two dozen other facilities are actively organizing.  

“We’re tired of Mercedes executives rolling things back,” said Billy Guyton, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “We’re going to roll our union forward.”  

For more information, visit uaw.org/join

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Mercedes-Benz Workers in Alabama File for Union Election as Southern Autoworkers Stand Up to Join the UAW

VANCE, Ala. – A supermajority of Mercedes-Benz workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a vote to join the UAW. The over 5,000 workers at the Mercedes plant outside Tuscaloosa, Ala., are the second group of Southern autoworkers to call for a union election in less than three weeks. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., filed for their election in mid-March and will have their vote to join the UAW April 17–19.  

A new video announcing the election filing at Mercedes features the Alabama autoworkers at a recent rally with UAW President Shawn Fain. In the video, Mercedes workers speak out on why they’re voting yes to join the UAW. (The media is invited to use footage from the video.) 

In a statement today, Jeremy Kimbrell, a measurement machine operator at Mercedes, said, “We are standing up for every worker in Alabama. At Mercedes, at Hyundai and at hundreds of other companies, Alabama workers have made billions of dollars for executives and shareholders, but we haven’t gotten our fair share. We’re going to turn things around with this vote. We’re going to end the Alabama discount.” 

“We are voting for safer jobs at Mercedes,” said Moesha Chandler, an assembly team member at Mercedes. “I’m still young, but I’m already having serious problems with my shoulders and hands. When you’re still in your twenties and your body is breaking down, that’s not right. By winning our union, we’ll have the power to make the work safer and more sustainable.” 

Mercedes management is running an aggressive anti-union campaign, but that has not blunted the workers’ momentum. By late February, less than two months after Mercedes workers went public with their drive to join the UAW, a majority of them had signed union cards. The Mercedes workers hope to be voting in their union election by early May. The NLRB is expected to quickly set the date for the election.  

The UAW has filed federal labor charges against Mercedes for illegal union busting, as well as charges in a German court for labor violations that could net billions in penalties for the German automaker. 

“We’re going to make Mercedes better with this vote,” said Jacob Ryan, a KVP team member at Mercedes. “Right now, the company keeps losing good people because they force them to work Saturdays at the last second, to take shifts that mess with their family lives. And the only choice people have is to take it or quit. With the union, we’ll have a voice for fair schedules that keep workers at Mercedes.” 

The Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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UAW Files Charges in Germany Against Mercedes-Benz: Company’s Anti-Union Campaign Against U.S. Autoworkers Violates New German Law on Global Supply Chain Practices

The UAW filed charges today against Mercedes-Benz Group AG for violating Germany’s new law on global supply chain practices. Mercedes-Benz’s aggressive anti-union campaign against U.S. autoworkers in Alabama is a clear human rights violation under the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains. If found guilty, Mercedes-Benz faces billions in penalties, including significant fines and bans on government contracts.

The UAW’s charges are an important early test of the act, which took effect on January 1, 2023, and applies to German-headquartered firms with more than 1,000 employees. The UAW is the first American union to file charges under the act, which is also known by its German acronym LkSG.

The law sets standards for global supply chains that German-based firms must adhere to, and it clearly prohibits companies from disregarding workers’ rights to form trade unions. Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s sprawling assembly and battery plant in Vance, Ala., are organizing to join the UAW and have faced fierce backlash from company management.

The Alabama plant is operated by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), a subsidiary of Stuttgart-based Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The UAW complaint details how MBUSI has intimidated, threatened and even fired Alabama workers in violation of U.S. labor law and International Labour Organization Conventions. The complaint documents seven violations of the German act, including:

  • The firing of a union supporter with Stage 4 cancer. The employee had been allowed to have his cellphone with him at work so he could receive updates on the availability of his scarce chemo drug. But a supervisor who has intimidated union supporters claimed there was a zero-tolerance policy on cellphones and had him fired.
  • A January letter from MBUSI CEO Michael Göbel to employees that attempted to chill union activity and violated their freedom of association. The letter was filled with stock phrases used by anti-union consultants designed to stoke fear, uncertainty, and division.
  • A mandatory plant-wide meeting Göbel held in February to discourage workers from unionizing. At this meeting, Göbel told workers “I don’t believe the UAW can help us to be better” and that they “shouldn’t have to pay union dues that generate millions of dollars per year for an organization where you have no transparency where that money is used.”
  • Another mandatory plant-wide meeting in February that featured former University of Alabama football Coach Nick Saban. Before and during the meeting, MBUSI supervisors attempted to stop union supporters from passing out UAW hats.

Despite the company’s anti-union campaign, a majority of MBUSI workers have signed union cards and recently rallied with UAW President Shawn Fain.

In addition to the charges against Mercedes-Benz in Germany, the MBUSI workers have filed multiple charges with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. Last week, the workers requested an injunction against MBUSI to put an end to the company’s retaliation against workers for standing up for their rights at work.

MBUSI’s actions not only violate U.S., German and international law, they also violate Mercedes-Benz’s Principles of Social Responsibility and Human Rights. Those principles state: “In the event of organization campaigns, the company and its executives shall remain neutral; the trade unions and the company will ensure that employees can make an independent decision.”

Every Mercedes-Benz plant in the world is unionized — except the company’s two plants in the United States. 

Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join.

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Alabama Workers File Federal Charges Against Mercedes-Benz, Request Government Injunction to End Company’s Illegal Union Busting

VANCE, Ala. – Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s largest U.S. plant have filed multiple federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board in response to the company’s aggressive and illegal union-busting. Workers are requesting an injunction to put an end to the company’s retaliation against workers for standing up for their rights at work. In February, Mercedes workers announced that a majority of their coworkers at the Mercedes plant in Vance had signed union authorization cards. Every Mercedes plant in the world is unionized—except the company’s two plants in the United States. 

“Since we started organizing, I put in my FMLA leave with management multiple times and every time they said they lost the paperwork,” said Lakeisha Carter, a Mercedes employee in the battery plant. “I’m an outspoken union supporter and Mercedes illegally disciplined me for medical absences that were clearly covered by my FMLA requests. It’s just plain retaliation from Mercedes, but I’m not going to be intimidated.” 

In February, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $438,625 in back wages, unpaid bonuses, and damages for two former workers at the Mercedes plant in Vance after management violated their rights to protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Al Ezell, a public union supporter in the Mercedes battery plant, has stage 4 lung cancer and supply chain issues have made it difficult for him to receive his medication. Al was given permission to have his phone on the factory floor in case his doctor called him about refilling his prescription. 

“Management called me into the office to discipline me for having my phone on the floor. My manager looked me in the face and told me she didn’t care that I have cancer or that I had permission, she was going to enforce the company’s zero tolerance policy,” said Ezell. “We’ve never had a zero-tolerance policy for having a phone on the floor. Management is just trying to scare us, but we won’t back down.”  

“Mercedes is forcing me and my coworkers to attend meetings and watch anti-union videos that are full of lies,” said Taylor Snipes, another worker in the Mercedes battery plant. “I finally had enough and asked my group leader if I had to watch the video and he treated me like a child, telling me I either had to watch the video or put my head down on the desk.” 

Later that day, Mr. Snipes was called into a meeting with Mercedes management and immediately fired for having his phone on the factory floor. Taylor had previously been given permission to have his phone on the floor so he could check for messages from his child’s day care center.  

“During the meeting, I told management that it was suspicious that I was being called into the office on the same day that I spoke up in anti-union meeting,” said Snipes. “My manager said the two had nothing to do with one another, but then proceeded to aggressively interrogate me about why I support having a union.” 

Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

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“We Are The Majority”: Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s Largest US Plant Announce Majority Support for Movement to Join UAW

VANCE, AL — A majority of workers at Mercedes-Benz’s largest plant in the United States, MBUSI in Vance, Alabama, have signed union cards in support of joining the UAW.

In a video announcement, Mercedes worker Jeremy Kimbrell, surrounded by his Mercedes coworkers, announces that “a majority of our coworkers at Mercedes here in Alabama have signed our union cards and are ready to win our union and a better life with the UAW.”

The full text of the announcement, and the video, are available below and media are encouraged to use the materials.

Kimbrell details several of the driving forces behind the workers’ grassroots campaign to join the UAW, including workers going many years without meaningful raises, a two-tier wage system, and the abuse of temporary workers. Each of these issues also figured prominently in the UAW’s Stand Up Strike at the Big Three, which has spurred an unprecedented amount of organizing activity and interest among America’s non-union autoworkers.

“There comes a time when enough is enough,” says Kimbrell. “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.”

The announcement marks the second plant to reach the majority milestone this month, after Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga reached majority support in early February. Over ten thousand non-union autoworkers across 14 auto companies have signed union cards and begun organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victories at the Big Three.

Full text of MBUSI workers’ announcement of majority support to join the UAW: 

“We’re here today to make a major announcement. 

A majority of our coworkers at Mercedes here in Alabama have signed our union cards and are ready to win our union and a better life with the UAW. 

We haven’t taken this step lightly. 

For years, we’ve fallen further behind while Mercedes has made billions. 

After 2008 and 2009, some of our coworkers were forced to leave the company.  

Consecutive CEOs said they’d be brought back once things improved.  

Things did improve, but they were never allowed to return and were replaced within six months by temporary workers at half the pay. 

These same temporary workers then worked for up to eight years before receiving full time jobs.  

Also during this time, our management gave us a 42 cent raise over a six year period while making record profits.  

And these same record profits weren’t enough to prevent Mercedes from imposing an unfair two-tier pay scale just as our children were entering the workforce.  

We’ve learned that we can’t trust Mercedes with our best interests.  

There comes a time when enough is enough.  

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.  

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.  

It’s not up to Mercedes management or any politician or anyone else.  

We’re exercising our right to fight for a better life.  

And we won’t stop until we’ve made things right for the workers who build the cars and make the company run.  

We organized our plant by ourselves.  

We are our union.  

So we’re here to tell you that we are the majority.  

That Mercedes workers are ready to stand up.  

And we’re asking all of you watching this, whether you’re an autoworker at Mercedes or just someone who believes in a better life for working class people in Alabama and beyond: stand with us.  

Support our cause, and join our movement.  

Thank you. 

Stand Up! 

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UAW Announces $40 Million Commitment to Organizing Auto and Battery Workers Over Next Two Years

DETROIT – The United Auto Workers is committing $40 million through 2026 in new organizing funds to support non-union autoworkers and battery workers who are organizing across the country, and particularly in the South. 

The UAW International Executive Board voted Tuesday to commit the funds in response to an explosion in organizing activity among non-union auto and battery workers, in order to meet the moment and grow the labor movement. 

In the next few years, the electric vehicle battery industry is slated to add tens of thousands of jobs across the country, and new standards are being set as the industry comes online. These jobs will supplement, and in some cases largely replace, existing powertrain jobs in the auto industry. Through a massive new organizing effort, workers will fight to maintain and raise the standard in the emerging battery industry. 

The major announcement comes on the heels of growing organizing momentum across the non-union auto sector, with workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga announcing majority support for the union, and workers at Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama and at Mercedes in Vance, Alabama following closely on their heels. 

More than ten thousand autoworkers have already signed their union cards to join the UAW and fight for a better life at 14 non-union automakers from California to South Carolina. To learn more about that campaign, visit UAW.org/join. 

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