After last year’s unsuccessful union elections at Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, the United Auto Workers, UAW, union is once again attempting to organize auto plant workers in Alabama.
On Thursday, 220 full-time and part-time manufacturing workers at the International Motors/Navistar powertrain manufacturing plant in Huntsville will be holding an election to determine whether the facility will become unionized under UAW.
While International Motors management has been active in discouraging the plant’s workers from voting to unionize, local labor groups are calling on workers to take collective action and approve unionization. On Tuesday, the North Alabama Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, released an official statement encouraging workers to vote “union yes” in Thursday’s election.
“Workers in the unions that make up the North Alabama Area Labor Council (NAALC), AFL-CIO, from grocery clerks to rocket scientists, from stagehands to manufacturing workers, encourage workers at Navistar in Huntsville to vote UNION YES in their election on Thursday,” the statement reads.
“Workers in unions have higher wages than our non-union counterparts – on average 11 percent higher, but often even more than that,” it continues. “We have better healthcare – many members of our affiliate unions pay no premiums at all. We have better retirement plans – indeed, union members are some of the only people in the country left who have pensions. And we have safer workplaces – recent studies have shown that union members are 20 percent less likely to be injured on the job and are as much as 80 percent less likely to die on the job.”
The NAALC went on to emphasize the power of collective bargaining, arguing that unionization could mean better wages and working conditions for workers at the Huntsville plant.
“These benefits don’t happen by magic. We don’t have them because of alchemy. We have improved wages and working conditions because we stood together and demanded them. We do that because together we are stronger than we could ever be alone,” the group stated.
Members of several unions affiliated with the NAALC also provided comments supporting unionization.
“I’ve been a union member for 23 years—but this is my first union job. I came from a non-union background. The benefits are very good – some of our members make over $100,000/year without a college degree,” said Rickie Langford, a production worker at United Launch Alliance in Decatur and president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 44. “Our union density is 95 percent in a right to work state out of 450 workers. I wouldn’t want to work no where else but a union environment.”
“With a union comes the confidence of stability, and knowing that management can’t promote or give shifts based on favoritism. You have a say in your working conditions, and that’s something most folks don’t have,” added Gavin Brunner, a union member and Langford’s coworker at ULA.
“My health benefits are free, as part of my compensation package in my union contract. I don’t pay premiums, and I’ve never had to worry about having money to go to the hospital,” said Corey Roberts, an employee at Johnson Contractors and member of the Ironworkers Local 477. “I’ve got a pension, I’ll have a dignified retirement that I can enjoy with my family. But the biggest thing is the solidarity, being part of a union where you always watch each other’s back so you can come home to your family every day.”
Adam Keller, a union member and the Worker Power campaign director at Alabama Arise, also highlighted the historical legacy of unionization in Alabama.
“At one time as many as one in four Alabama workers were in unions, and the workers of this state have a long, proud tradition of coming together around our common interests to win better lives,” Keller said. “Unions are every bit as Alabama as football, sweet tea, and biscuits. Navistar workers have an opportunity to add to this rich history by standing strong in solidarity and voting union yes.”
International/Navistar leadership was quick to reject the union push at the Huntsville plant after UAW filed its initial petition with the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB. In a letter to employees, the company discouraged unionization saying that it would prefer to “engage directly” with workers to address any concerns and preserve the facility’s “team-based culture.”
“Our plant and company have worked tirelessly to address issues that come with rapid growth and changes in the industry and economic environment. We are committed to continuous improvement and maintaining Huntsville as a great place to work,” said Brandon Tucker, plant manager for International/Navistar Huntsville Powertrain.
“We have a great team here in Huntsville, and we respect the rights, opinions, and input of all our team members and welcome their feedback. With transparency and facts, we will work to inform them why we believe joining the UAW union is not in the best interest of our team culture, the Huntsville plant, or the community’s future,” Tucker added. “The city of Huntsville is thriving, and we want to continue to be a strong part of that. We believe prioritizing flexibility, innovation, and direct communication to overcome challenges provides the brightest future for all.”
In addition to the company’s own anti-union messaging, the Business Council of Alabama, BCA, has also been intent on discouraging unionization in Huntsville and throughout the state. The organization has created an anti-UAW website, published anti-union op-eds, and aligned itself closely with state politicians, including Governor Kay Ivey.
In its Tuesday statement, the NAALC rejected the BCA’s tactics as “anti-union propaganda.”
“Our council encourages workers at Navistar to ignore the anti-union propaganda from the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), and look at the fine print at the end of their ads,” the group stated. “They say the BCA ‘represents the collective business interests of the entire Alabama business community [emphasis added].’ So the bosses can unionize and advocate for their collective interests, but they want individual workers to stay divided. That’s because, despite their rhetoric, they recognize reality: people are stronger together. It’s true for workers, and it’s apparently even true for multi-billion dollar international corporations. Workers should ignore what the BCA says, and pay attention to what they do.”
The NAALC concluded its statement by once again encouraging International/Navistar workers to “vote union yes” and by pledging to “support these workers once they’ve unionized when they begin their fight for a fair first contract.”
