Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Monday that she has signed legislation that could lead to the revocation of economic incentives given to businesses that voluntarily recognize unions starting next year.
But the legislation, SB231, has no impact on proceedings unfolding this week east of Tuscaloosa, where thousands of employees at a Mercedes-Benz plant will decide whether they want to be represented by United Workers of Automobile (UAW).
“Alabama is not Michigan,” Ivey told about 1,000 people at a chamber of commerce reception in Huntsville. “Huntsville…Tuscaloosa…these are not Detroit. We want to ensure that Alabama’s values, not Detroit’s, continue to define the future of this great state.
Ivey’s remarks came on the first day of voting in a historic election at the automaker’s Vance plant. The organizing effort comes amid a $40 million campaign by the UAW to organize foreign assembly plants in the South. A union campaign is also underway at the Hyundai plant in Montgomery.
Here’s complete coverage of the Alabama Mercedes union battle
It also comes after the UAW won big in November with three Detroit automakers: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Following union strikes at these Michigan companies, the UAW negotiated contracts that led to higher wages and arguably better working conditions and encouraged the union group to target 13 non-union automakers, including the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance.
Under federal law, workers can apply to unionize if 30 percent of workers at a specific workplace sign union authorization cards. The UAW has said it will call for an election once it has 70 percent union support in a specific workplace.
Refusal of incentives
Ivey signed SB231 into law on Friday. The new law, passed by the Alabama Legislature last week, removes economic incentives offered by the state to attract a company to the state if it voluntarily recognizes a union or if the union does not hold a ballot secrecy during an election.
Similar laws have been passed in Tennessee and Georgia.
The new law sets January 1, 2025 as the date to revoke economic incentives if a company voluntarily accepts a union.
Mercedes-Benz does not voluntarily support the unionization effort, and national media reports suggest that corporate efforts in Alabama are much stronger in opposing the effort than they were in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the last month. Workers at a Volkswagen plant voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining the UAW, with 73% support, after two previous failed attempts dating back to 2014. The vote represented the first time since the 1940s that workers at ‘an automobile factory in the South voted in an election to join. a syndicate.
The secret ballot election takes place through the National Labor Relations Board, which governs how union elections are conducted when a company does not voluntarily recognize unionizing efforts. The NLRB is not involved in voluntary unionization efforts, which are corporate-backed and have seen an increase in recent years.
A Mercedes-Benz official declined to comment on the new Alabama law. The company obtained a $253 million state economic incentive package to attract the project to Alabama in 1993.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said: “MBUSI fully respects our team members’ choice to unionize and we look forward to participating in the election process to ensure that every team member also has the opportunity to vote by secret ballot. such as having access to the information necessary to make an informed choice.
The UAW declined to comment.
Harmless or weakened unions?
Republicans, during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives last week, called SB231 “harmless” but also said it was a way to ensure workers were not intimidated by pro-union campaigns.
Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, said last week that SB231 was not intended to block a unionizing effort, but would protect people like single mothers working in a factory who might be intimidated by men who would like them to she supports unionization.
Democratic lawmakers said the legislation underscored the Alabama Republican’s efforts to undermine union organizing.
Alabama is one of 27 “right to work” states that allow employees to opt out of joining a union. The state solidified its opposition to unions in 2016, when voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that ensures Alabama workers cannot be forced to join labor groups or pay dues, even if their employer is unionized.
“I think what concerns me is that we’re forcing the National Labor Relations Board to be involved in every election,” said Rep. Curtis Travis, D-Tuscaloosa.
Ivey said SB231 “further protects our jobs in Alabama” and ensures “every vote is counted.”
“My message is clear: I stand up for Alabamians and I protect our jobs,” Ivey said. “We will not let this threat from Detroit hinder our progress, dampen our hopes, and harm the prosperity of our people. »
The signing of SB231 also comes as the state’s union membership is steadily increasing, although it still lags behind national averages. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Alabama had 156,000 union members last year, or 7.5% of the workforce, compared to a historic low of 5.9% in 2021 and 7.2% in 2022. national average is 10%. Eleven other states had a union density rate below 5 percent, with South Carolina having the lowest participation rate at 2.3 percent.
The last major unionization effort at an Alabama manufacturing plant took place in 2021, when thousands of hourly workers at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse voted nearly two to one against unionization in an election secret correspondence.
The UAW vote is expected to last until Friday. The vote totals are also expected to be released Friday.
News Source : www.al.com
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