The United Auto Workers (UAW) has been suggested to have a potential new legal strategy in play, a reversal of their recent election defeat at a Mercedes-Benz AG plant, which could in effect force the German automaker to recognize the union, as per certain labor scholars. A recent shocking loss took place on May 17 when the union election at Mercedes did not go in favor of the UAW, thus, thwarting their ambitious endeavor to organize approximately 150,000 workers at more than a dozen nonunion plants within the United States.
The United Auto Workers Union had pre-election voiced their assumption of having the support of a good majority of the roughly 5,200 eligible workers at the Mercedes plant. The Union also filed charges with the Federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing the company of illegal union busting. This claim could potentially build the foundation for the union to dispute the election results under a 2023doctrine under the NLRB, obligating employers to mandatory bargaining orders in cases where management has violated employees’ rights leading up to an election. NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, has hinted at this as an option even for employers who commit a single violation, independent of the election outcome.
The doctrine refers to the Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC standard, which necessitates an employer to recognize a union if workers provide evidence of majority support, and if they fail to, or make attempts to interfere, the employers can be hit with a mandatory bargaining order, without requiring an election.
However, while the standard was set, it remains untested, and there are currently around half a dozen ongoing cases where the board is trying to instigate the so-called Cemex orders, despite not having received a ruling in federal court as of yet. As former NLRB member and current Harvard Law School professor, Sharon Block, opines, “At the very least, it is a serious question about whether Cemex would apply.”
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