MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Just hours after workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance announced Tuesday that they had reached majority support to organize with the United Auto Workers union, Gov. Kay Ivey urged business leaders and employers to stand against the effort, calling it a “threat from Detroit” and an “out-of-state interest group.”
Speaking at a Montgomery Chamber of Commerce event, Ivey was joined by Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair, who she appointed to the position earlier this year.
“When bringing McNair on board, the first point we discussed was the need to build on our current economic development success, and to develop a strategy for the 2030s today,” Ivey said. “Maybe the second thing we discussed was the looming threat of the UAW.”
Shortly after its 46-day strike last year against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the UAW launched a national campaign to organize non-unionized automakers in southern, right-to-work states where laws prohibit unions from compelling new employees to join their ranks.
Both the Mercedes-Benz plant and Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama have been among the targets of that campaign, with Ivey, along with the Business Council of Alabama, fiercely opposing those efforts.
Workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant first announced their campaign to organize with the UAW back in January after reaching 30% union support. While that 30% threshold is enough to call a union election, in its campaign, the UAW has instead opted to collect 70% support among workers. When that threshold is met, the automaker can voluntarily recognize the union or the UAW can seek an election run by the National Labor Relations Board.
Jeremy Kimbrell, an employee at the Mercedes-Benz plant and lead organizer of the union campaign, cited stagnant wages, two-tier wage systems and the overreliance on temporary workers as among the main reasons for organizing.
“There comes a time when enough is enough… now is that time,” Kimbrell said Tuesday morning.
“We know what the company, what the politicians, and what their multi-millionaire buddies will say, they’ll say now is not the right time, or that this is not the right way,” he said. “But here’s the thing, this is our decision; it’s our life; it’s our community; these are our families.”
Ivey has warned that a unionized workforce could deter future economic investment in the state, and incentivize employers to look elsewhere in search of cheaper labor.
The increased labor costs associated with a unionized workforce, Ivey argued, could also put existing investments at risk.
“Hyundai here in Montgomery is one of our state’s world-class (plants) being targeted, but here’s the thing: since production began in 2005, Hyundai has been transformative for the Montgomery community.”
In February, Hyundai workers announced that they had reached the milestone of 30% union support, enough to call a union election. Most workers cited a lack of retirement benefits as their main motivation in organizing with the UAW, along with wages that were on the lower end for the auto-manufacturing industry.
Factoring in Montgomery’s low cost of living, however, Ivey argued that wages at the Hyundai plant were still far and above most jobs in the area, and had brought prosperity to thousands of families, something that could be compromised were workers to unionize.
“With a high school degree, folks are able to work good jobs at (Hyundai) and make a good wage, and it now represents a $1.8 billion investment and has created some 4,000 jobs; on top of the good jobs, they’re just plain good neighbors here in Montgomery,” Ivey said.
“We cannot let this out-of-state interest group (halt) the way to hope and prosperity. As I’ve said before, I will always proudly support great Alabama employers and the best employees in the world.”
Past attempts from the UAW and other national unions to organize Alabama’s labor force have proven unsuccessful, including an effort from the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union in 2020 to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer.
In the hopes of continuing to block continued attempts to organize Alabama’s workforce, Ivey called on employers and business leaders – many of whom were among those attending the Chamber event – to continue to stand against those efforts
“We need your efforts to serve as a model to those areas grappling with this threat from Detroit. Alabamians work harder than anyone, we make the best automobiles in the world, and we must not let UAW tell us any differently.”