Automotive workers in the American south are on the verge of ushering in a new era of unionized solidarity. Just weeks after workers in a Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Mercedes-Benz facility began campaigning to unionize, similar efforts are taking off at Hyundai’s plant just two hours away in Montgomery. Workers in the plant have been given large pay increases since the UAW recent successful strike against Stellantis, General Motors, and Ford, though are still paid some ten dollars per hour less than union workers. Hyundai workers also say that injuries and death run rampant in the factory, leading them to seek union protections.
In recent weeks, the United Auto Workers union has made major headway in its efforts to introduce labor unions to non-big-three automaker shops around the country. In addition to the Mercedes and Hyundai factories in Alabama, the Shawn Fain-led operation has targeted Toyota and Volkswagen plants in Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Volvo, and Tesla. The union’s 46-day strike against American manufacturers, and the significant wage increases it garnered, has renewed interest in unionizing among traditionally non-union workers.
“We done had close to 9,000 employees,” says worker Robert Lee Kennedy, Jr. in the video from More Perfect Union on Twitter. “And a small percent of ‘em make it to retirement. Most of ‘em either got injury, or fired because of their injuries. The workers are fed up and tired, and they want a change.”
Hyundai was accused of trying to illegally intimidate workers organizing with the UAW, and unfair labor practices, in December. Managers have unlawfully banned pro-union materials in non-work areas, according to the UAW, and workers in the above video.
“These companies are breaking the law in an attempt to get autoworkers to sit down and shut up instead of fighting for their fair share,” UAW President Shawn Fain
“HMMA’s stance has been and continues to be that since 2005, nearly 4,000 hard-working women and men have been building high-quality Hyundai vehicles at HMMA,” Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama spokesperson Scott Posey told Alabama Daily News.
“HMMA is thriving because of the strong team-oriented atmosphere we’ve cultivated and the pride we share in building safe, high-quality vehicles for the North American market. While the decision to be represented by a union is one our team members can make, during our 18-year manufacturing history in the U.S. here in Alabama, our teams have preferred and benefited from direct engagement and communications with management.”
Alabama Republican governor Kay Ivey has vocally come out against the UAW’s efforts in her state, calling the union an “out-of-state special interest group” placing Alabama and its workers “under attack.”
Hyundai was ordered to pay $1.3 million in penalties related to a worker death in 2016, and recently was the subject of investigation after workers as young as 12 were discovered in the Automotive giant’s subsidiary supply chain. Unions could probably help prevent stuff like that.