WHERE DOES THE UAW GO AFTER MERCEDES-BENZ?*
The UAW lost the vote among workers to represent them at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama.? They voted “No” by a 56.4% majority.? This defeat ends the UAW’s string of victories under new leadership, from the negotiation of “record” contracts with the Big Three to the historic certification-election win last month at the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
This loss, as Shawn Fain put it, “stings,” but it is not fatal.? The UAW will digest the reasons for the setback, adjust strategy and tactic accordingly, and redouble efforts to bring nonunion auto workers under its bargaining fold.? But the road ahead will be more difficult as employers stiffen their resistance.? A thick cloud of uncertainty and fear hangs over the domestic auto industry in the race to electrify vehicles in geo-politically and -economically unstable times.
Next Moves
First, explore legal remedies.? Recent rulings and guidance issued at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) demonstrate its more favorable predisposition to labor.? Will it tip the scales even further in reviewing the slew of unfair labor practice claims filed by the UAW against Mercedes in Alabama?
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Second, analyze why the UAW lost this election.? Why was it unable to translate a supermajority of authorization-card signatures into actual “Yes” votes?? Was it because such support was too shallow? ?Were workers unpersuaded by the union’s message or were they intimidated by the employer’s opposition??
Third, improve the union’s messaging. Convincing arguments must precede companies’ relentless charges that the UAW is bad for jobs, radicalized, corrupt, and out-of-touch with rank-and-file.? The UAW must convince workers that the risk associated with representation is worth it.? The union itself and its representatives among the workers must articulate the grievances of workers in a succinctly compelling fashion.
Fourth, anticipate how nonunion auto employers will change strategy and tactic based on lessons learned from Mercedes-Benz.? Obvious lessons may be drawn on union-avoidance by improving employee relations at the site, using management consultants, articulating the case for remaining union-free, and building trust in management personnel from the supervisory and plant levels to the C-suite.?
*Marick F. Masters, Professor Emeritus of Business, Wayne State University, Commentator, and Podcaster, May 18, 2024
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