Along with VW, UAW Targets Mercedes and Nissan Factories in Southeast US
Although the union election at Volkswagen in Tennessee has captured the headlines, the UAW has simultaneously been targeting the Mercedes-Benz and Nissan factories in Alabama and Mississippi, respectively. The union filed unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes alleging that union organizers were not allowed inside the plant despite its parent company Daimler AG’s long-held policy of neutrality on union organizing. The union is also working with IndustriALL Global Union to protect organizing rights of hourly workers at Nissan. According to the UAW and IndustriALL, “Nissan is a global company that should abide by global standards that the United States and other countries have agreed to” instead of orchestrating an “aggressive campaign against worker efforts to form a union.” The UAW, one of the few unions to increase membership in 2013, is poised to continue that growth in 2014.