The American South is deeply conservative and has held an anti-union stance since the Confederates. If unionizing trends keep going in this direction, however, that may no longer be the case. Some 5,200 Mercedes-Benz factory workers in Vance will cast their ballot on the issue of unionizing next month. The good news for those at Merc who support joining the United Auto Workers union is that the majority of Alabama also wants that. According to a recent poll by More Perfect Union, over 52 percent of the state supports unionizing autoworkers, while just 21 percent responded in opposition.
On April 22 workers at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant voted to join the UAW, breaking the dam and pushing the UAW’s territory further south and outside of the Big Three. Seemingly these new union pushes were inspired by the union’s major collective bargaining wins last fall. A similar organizing drive is underway at Hyundai’s factory in Montgomery. Admittedly Tennessee isn’t Alabama, and the workers at Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai face a steeper uphill battle.
Alabama voted overwhelmingly for felony-defendant Donald Trump in the most recent presidential election, and state residents generally approve of deeply anti-Union Republican governor Key Ivey. Ivey joined with the Governors of Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas to pen a joint statement denouncing unionizing efforts in their states. According to the poll, however, support for the unionization efforts “spanned partisan divides, education levels, age, and race.” It is truly a non-partisan issue to wish better and safer working conditions for your neighbors.
Here’s further on the poll from More Perfect Union:
Though Ivey has repeatedly and prominently criticized labor unions, voters in her state overwhelmingly acknowledged their benefits: 72 percent of Alabamians said they believe UAW representation will deliver higher wages and salaries to workers, 71 percent thought the union will lead to better healthcare and retirement benefits, and 69 percent predicted safer conditions for unionized autoworkers.
More than seventy percent of Mercedes-Benz plant workers have signed National Labor Relations Board cards, in spite of aggressive union-busting tactics from company higher-ups, including an in-person anti-union presentation all-hands by Dimitris Psillakis, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S.