UAW seeks new election at Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama

A week after losing a hard-fought election at two Mercedes-Benz factories in Alabama, the United Automobile Workers asked federal officials Friday to order a new vote, saying the German automaker violated labor laws to suppress support to the union.

Mercedes-Benz has waged a “relentless anti-union campaign” characterized by “unbridled lawlessness,” the UAW said in a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. Among other things, the union said, Mercedes fired four employees who supported the union, barred pro-union employees from campaigning and forced employees to watch anti-union videos.

Workers at Mercedes plants outside Tuscaloosa, which make SUVs and battery packs, voted against joining the union (56% to 44%). But the labor board can order a new election if, after a hearing, a regional director determines that an employer’s improper conduct influenced the vote, a board spokeswoman said.

Mercedes denied using improper methods to defeat the union push. The majority of workers “indicated that they were not interested in being represented by the UAW,” the company said in a statement Friday.