United Auto Workers’ defeat at Mercedes’ Alabama plants underscores challenges for organized labor in Southern states

(Version anglaise seulement)

par Stephen J. Silvia, Professor of International Relations, American University School of International Service

A majority of the workers at two Mercedes plants near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, rejected an opportunity to join the United Auto Workers union in an election that concluded on May 17, 2024.

UAW supporters lost 2,642 to 2,045, just one month after the workers at a Volkswagen plant in the neighboring state of Tennessee chose…