Unions such as the UAW argue their involvement can help boost wages and improve the work environment at auto plants.
People celebrate after the United Auto Workers received enough votes to form a union at a UAW vote watch party on April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Just days before workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama began voting last week on whether to unionize, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a new law that would claw back state incentives from companies that voluntarily recognize labor unions.
But GOP forces in the South view unions as an existential threat to their manufacturing economies — of even more importance now that states are increasingly competing for electric vehicle and battery plants. A week before April’s monumental vote at the Tennessee Volkswagen plant, six Southern Republican governors warned that unionization would jeopardize the region’s auto jobs. In addition to Ivey in Alabama, the governors of Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas also signed on.
To Tennessee state Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, the 2023 law regarding union elections passed in his state was yet another GOP effort to “blockade” union power in the South. ALEC did not respond to a request for comment, but the organization’s involvement could further push the legislative concept across red states, particularly in the South.
“There could be peer pressure, there can be coercion and intimidation,” he said, “and probably even more common is the union’s trying to make sure that employees … are not receiving both sides of the story on what would happen if a union organized them.” Opponents of the new union voting laws argue that pushing for elections through secret ballot run by the National Labor Relations Board — as opposed to card check — can subject workers to anti-union messaging from management. Such elections also might delay the inevitable, they argue, in cases where the union has identified a clear majority of support.
“We didn’t say we don’t want unions,” Hodges said. “Bless your heart, if you want to unionize, unionize.”
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U.S. labor secretary says UAW win at Tennessee Volkswagen plant shows southern workers back unionsActing U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su says workers at southern auto plants should be free to unionize without employer or political interference, even as some southern states pass new laws meant to inhibit organized labor.
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U.S. labor secretary says UAW win at Tennessee Volkswagen plant shows southern workers back unionsActing U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su says workers at southern auto plants should be free to unionize without employer or political interference, even as some southern states pass new laws meant to inhibit organized labor.
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U.S. labor secretary says UAW win at Tennessee Volkswagen plant shows southern workers back unionsActing U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su says workers at southern auto plants should be free to unionize without employer or political interference, even as some southern states pass new laws meant to inhibit organized labor.
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UAW loses Alabama union vote seen as bellwether for organizing auto workers in the SouthRob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.
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Employees at Alabama Mercedes plants vote 56% against union, slowing UAW effort in SouthWorkers at two Mercedes-Benz factories near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, have voted overwhelmingly against joining the United Auto Workers
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Mercedes workers vote no to union, putting the brakes on UAW's march SouthMore than 5,000 Mercedes-Benz workers who build luxury SUVs in Alabama were eligible to vote on whether to join the UAW. Workers faced intense anti-union messaging from Mercedes in the run-up.
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