Posts tagged Mercedes-Benz
Workers at GM battery plant agree to unionize
September 6, 2024 // The unionization majority at Ultium Cells — a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution. It was the first time workers at an automaker other than the Big Three had unionized in the South. Earlier this year, 30% of workers at a Toyota factory in Missouri said they had signed union authorization cards. It was the fourth non-union plant to join a growing movement of autoworkers who are attempting to replicate the record contracts the UAW won from the Big Three Detroit automakers last year, including 25% wage bumps.
Builders and Contractors of Alabama president Jay Reed: New union secret ballot incentives law ‘critical to free enterprise’
August 23, 2024 // “This law does not prevent workers from joining unions. It gives employees the right to vote privately and be free from pressure campaigns from labor unions or anyone else. Secret ballots are a foundational principle in our nation, and workers deserve the right to make their own decisions freely,” Stadthagen said.
Nissan workers in Mississippi consider another union campaign: VW ‘proved it can be done’
August 8, 2024 // “We were the forefathers of everything that came to be,” said Rahmeel Nash, a paint body technician at Nissan who has been at the plant for 21 years. But when it came time for Nissan workers to vote in 2017, they rejected unionizing. The final tally wasn’t close — nearly two to one against it. Nissan technician Morris Mock said one reason they lost was because of the UAW itself. The union was in the early days of a corruption scandal, one that eventually led to two presidents going to jail for embezzling. Beyond that, there were deeply entrenched anti-union attitudes in the state. Even local pastors came to speak to workers, calling the company the savior of Mississippi, Mock said.
Illinois bans companies from forcing workers to listen to their anti-union talk
August 2, 2024 // U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business are challenging similar laws in other states. The groups say the laws are a violation of the First Amendment, denying employers their right to free speech, and are also in conflict with the National Labor Relations Act, which protects an employer's communications with employees as long as they do not contain threats of reprisals or promises of benefits.
Kamala Harris’s War on American Workers
July 29, 2024 // Harris’s labor policy platform is designed to force every American worker into a union. Big Labor is one of the Democratic Party’s fattest cash cows, spending at least $1.8 billion to elect the Biden-Harris ticket and down ballot Democrats in 2020. The more union dues-paying workers there are, the more money flows into Democratic campaign coffers. The centerpiece of Harris’s plan is banning right-to-work laws, which allow workers to earn a living without being forced into a union as a condition of employment. Right-to-work laws, which protect more than 166 million Americans in 27 states, promote economic growth and prosperity.
Commentary: South Carolina should resist UAW campaign to unionize auto plants
July 24, 2024 // For example, the UAW’s strike against the Big Three automakers in Michigan last year resulted in significant layoffs, despite being seen as a victory for the union. Stellantis recently announced temporary layoffs of 1,600 workers in Michigan, and the Big Three have collectively announced over 18,000 layoffs since agreeing to the union's burdensome new contract.
As UAW ‘is being watched with a microscope,’ new investigation puts Fain in crosshairs
July 1, 2024 // The Free Press has made numerous requests — none granted — over the years, including following the release of the latest status report, to interview the monitor, Neil Barofsky, a former assistant U.S. attorney and current partner in the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block. The consent decree stemming from the union's corruption scandal sets in place a six-year term of oversight by the monitor. Barofsky’s appointment was OK’d by U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson in May 2021. The monitor’s charge is broad, with the consent decree giving him “the authority and duty to remove fraud, corruption, illegal behavior, dishonesty and unethical practices from the UAW and its constituent entities.” The oversight by the independent monitor means that internal divisions and disagreements in addition to specific actions are much more likely to be brought to light. Masters described the situation as a fishbowl.
Op-Ed: Funny How the UAW Never Loses Fair and Square
June 6, 2024 // In Alabama, the UAW is filing an objection to the Mercedes-Benz unionization vote that was soundly defeated, 56% to 44%, with 90% turnout. What happened to respecting the vote and not questioning election results? You don’t see anyone challenging the results in Chattanooga, where the UAW won.
Alabama Mercedes-Benz Employees Declined to Unionize. The UAW May Win Anyway
June 5, 2024 // Unions defend this anti-democratic system as a necessary response to corporate shenanigans, but that claim ignores how the deck is stacked in unions’ favor. Unions have an incentive to allege illegal activity regardless of whether it happened, and under the Biden administration, the NLRB is much more inclined to agree with unions. The Cemex decision itself is proof of the board’s union bias. The NLRB is run by people appointed by the self-described “most pro-union president ever.” Lo and behold, they make pro-union decisions. The Alabama autoworkers should be terrified. They couldn’t have been clearer in their rejection of the UAW.
The Delivery Business Shows Why Unions Are Struggling to Expand
May 29, 2024 // But the union has also suffered losses. Yellow, a trucking company that employed 24,000 Teamsters, shut down and filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Amazon and FedEx said they were confident in their approach to managing and compensating workers. Amazon said it had made investments that bolstered pay and benefits at its delivery contractors. FedEx said its nonunion model allowed it to quickly increase pay whereas UPS’s union employees were bound by the terms of five-year contracts.