Mercedes-Benz USA employed a big staff of anti-union consultants to assist the corporate defeat an organizing effort by the United Auto Staff union earlier this month, based on new disclosures with the Labor Division.
The filings present the automaker contracted with three consulting companies to deliver on a minimum of 11 “persuaders” to carry conferences with staff concerning the union forward of an election. Staff on the Vance, Alabama, plant in the end voted 2,045 to 2,642 towards forming a union, a setback for the UAW because it tries to arrange Southern auto services.
Employers usually spend massive bucks to rent persuaders to carry what are referred to as “captive audience” conferences — necessary gatherings the place staff have a tendency to listen to anti-union speaking factors. The going price lately is round $3,200 per day for every marketing consultant.
Mercedes didn’t instantly reply Tuesday when requested how a lot it spent. The corporate had mentioned forward of the election that it “fully respects our Team Members’ choice whether to unionize.” It additionally mentioned it was ensuring that staff had “access to the information necessary to make an informed choice.”
“It’s been nonstop anti-union. We’ve had to go to meetings every day.”
– Rick Webster, Mercedes worker and member of the union organizing committee
Each employers and consultants are legally required to reveal their preparations to the Labor Division. Mercedes received’t be required to report how a lot it spent on the marketing campaign till subsequent 12 months.
However staff on the Vance plant mentioned consultants seemed to be holding conferences day by day within the weeks forward of the election. With such a big roster of contractors, the corporate simply might have spent within the lots of of hundreds of {dollars} on the trouble. (The Labor Division filings could be seen right here, right here, right here and right here.)
“It’s been nonstop anti-union. We’ve had to go to meetings every day,” Rick Webster, a employee and member of the union organizing committee, advised HuffPost forward of the vote. “They’re just blowing all kinds of money on this.”
Many of the UAW’s membership is concentrated in Midwestern vegetation run by Ford, Basic Motors and Jeep mum or dad firm Stellantis. However following its strike towards the “The Big Three” final 12 months, the union has launched an formidable marketing campaign to arrange staff at foreign-owned vegetation in Southern states like Alabama which can be extra hostile to organized labor.
The UAW had a historic breakthrough final month when it received by a landslide at Volkswagen’s SUV meeting plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Volkswagen principally stayed out of the organizing marketing campaign, whereas Mercedes, which bargains with unions in its dwelling nation of Germany, actively opposed the UAW via conferences, textual content messages and letters to staff.
The UAW and Germany-based labor leaders mentioned Mercedes was violating its personal social accountability code by taking a place towards the union.
Late final week the UAW filed objections to Mercedes’ conduct in the course of the marketing campaign, alleging the corporate illegally interfered within the course of and tainted the vote. The Nationwide Labor Relations Board is predicted to overview the union’s claims and, if it finds wrongdoing by Mercedes, might name for a do-over election.
“Let’s get a vote at Mercedes in Alabama where the company isn’t allowed to fire people, isn’t allowed to intimidate people, and isn’t allowed to break the law and their own corporate code, and let the workers decide,” the union mentioned in an announcement.
