State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) is concerned about the future of auto manufacturing in Alabama because of efforts to unionize the Mercedes-Benz plant.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama will vote to unionize between May 13 and May 17.

The concerns arose after the United Auto Workers (UAW) conducted a successful unionization drive at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Ohr said Friday on WVNN's “The Dale Jackson Show” that he's heard discussions from other automakers about an issue that he thinks is very “concerning” for the future of Alabama's economy.

“I've heard the same stories and the same arguments, that certainly they're not happy and that future growth for other automakers in Alabama is going to come to a screeching halt because of this,” Oh said. “And that's certainly a concern because other states would certainly like to have what Alabama has and what we've been striving for since Mercedes first came in in the early '90s.”

The state legislature recently passed the Orr bill, which would withhold financial incentives from businesses that voluntarily recognize unions “based solely on signed union authorization cards” when the selection of bargaining representatives can be done through secret ballot elections.

But the senator acknowledged there is only so much that can be done at the state level to stop unions from gaining more influence in Alabama.

“Well, federal law and the National Labor Relations Act govern all of this, and it's pretty strict,” he explained. “And then under the Biden administration and the Obama administration, there's a commission that governs that organization, that makes the rules, [regulations] “It's going to be much tougher. So it's going to be very difficult for the state to do anything in terms of organizing efforts with unions or post-organizing efforts.”

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Oh said he wasn't sure whether workers at the Mercedes plant in Vance would vote to unionize.

“I don't know if I can say it's a foregone conclusion yet, but there will definitely be a vote. It's scheduled in the next few days, I think the middle of next month, and we don't know what will happen, but in the experience of Volkswagen, the UAW has been around for a lot longer, and as you know, the vote was overwhelming in favor of unionizing,” he said.

He also warned that automakers would do well to take care of their workers if they want to head off further unionization attempts in the future.

“These things take time, and the UAW doesn't stop at state lines,” he said, “so they're going to go wherever they think they can get enough votes to organize. And then they'll find places where there's a frustrated employee base, and as the organizing effort progresses and the UAW promises are kept, I think the first dominoes will start to fall. And if employers don't care about their employees, they can certainly be vulnerable to organizing efforts.”

Gov. Kay Ivey continues to oppose the potential expansion of the UAW in Alabama, and in a social media post on Thursday she issued her biggest attack yet on the union.

The UAW is not the good guy here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling out the UAW for what it is: a corrupt, sly, dangerous parasite. https://t.co/NKEZ79qzts

— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) April 25, 2024

Yaffe is a contributing writer for Yellow Hammer News and hosts “The Yaffe Program” weekdays from 9-11 a.m. WhistlerYou can follow us on Twitter @Yaffe