Labor News & Commentary May 9, 2024 next week's vote at Mercedes Benz in Alabama, & more

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/may-9-2024/

By Holden Hopkins

Holden Hopkins is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s News & Commentary, the anti-union campaign picks up ahead of next week’s vote at Mercedes Benz in Alabama, Vermont passes its version of the PRO Act, and the NLRB’s new joint-employer rule survives a legislative challenge.

Despite claiming neutrality, Mercedes Benz along with the Business Council of Alabama, a pro-employer advocacy group, have launched an advertising blitz urging autoworkers to vote no in next week’s union election. Alabama elected officials, including Governor Kay Ivey, have also urged workers to vote no.

Holt and others have previously reported on the union drive at the Vance, Alabama plant. While the outside pressure has picked up, union organizers are feeling encouraged in the wake of last month’s UAW win in Tennessee.

The election is scheduled for May 13 – 17.

The Vermont legislature passed a bill inspired by the proposed federal “Protecting the Right to Organize”, or PRO Act, most recently sponsored in the US Senate by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The state’s version of the bill, called S.102, bans captive audience meetings, allows card checks for public sector unions, and extends organizing rights to domestic workers excluded from coverage under the NLRA.

FULL story at link above.