UAW's Fain says VW victory shows union 'can win anywhere'

The German approach to labor relations and that practiced in the United States hew to different philosophies, Marick Masters, a management professor at Wayne State University, said of the UAW: "I would think they would stick to the more traditional collective bargaining approach.

"That doesn’t mean they don’t want some form of representation as some have on some (the) board. I think they’re going to look at this as saying, 'We’re not here to be co-managers of the operation. We still will bargain and represent our workers. We just want to make certain they are able to do so by whatever means necessary.'"

The Volkswagen win gears up the union for its next organizing challenge outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where roughly 5,000 workers at Mercedes-Benz's Vance assembly plant and Woodstock battery plant will vote May 13-17 on whether to join the union.

"It gives the Mercedes workers the courage to know now that it can happen, and that it is possible," Fain said about the impact of the Volkswagen result. "The workers at Mercedes to me are fed up. It's going to really give workers all over a lot of hope. It's lifted them all up, and I believe that you're going to see the numbers increase and see more people signing cards to want to join and get some control of their work lives."

Mercedes previously said in a statement sent by spokesperson Andrea Berg it respects its employees' decision on whether to unionize, that it seeks to offer a safe work environment to build vehicles, and that it believes "open and direct communication with our Team Members is the best path forward to ensure continued success."

Kirk Garner, a 26-year employee at the Mercedes plant, has been working on the effort to organize the plant since 2000. When the Detroit Three recently “got a real good contract," he said, "a lot of people saw that and wanted to get involved in a movement."

Not everyone, though, agrees. Jay White, a 19-year worker at the Mercedes plant, plans to vote against the UAW representation. He said he's done the math, looked at the cost of living between where he is in Alabama and Detroit, and says he believes he comes out ahead.

“I can speak for myself,” White said. “I make a very good living wage, I live in a wonderful area, get a 401(k) with superior matching. I have no need for a union. Other than taking my money, there is nothing in my mind that they are going to be able to do for me.”

The union previously had tried organizing Chattanooga. In 2019, VW workers at the plant voted 51.8% against union representation. There also was a narrow defeat in 2014. At the Mercedes plant, an organizing effort fizzled out in 2014 going to a vote.

Although Fain suggested the Volkswagen win last week provided evidence of the UAW's ability to organize in areas where it had failed in the past, experts say those close calls in the past, the German automaker's other plants around the globe having employee representation, and its partnership with unions elsewhere on its supervisory board make it a lower barrier to entry than some others. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. have reputations for treating workers well, and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk publicly said he doesn't like unions.

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