A conservative group with ties to anti-tax activist Grover Norquist is bringing its anti-union campaign to Alabama's Mercedes-Benz plant, where the United Auto Workers is trying to organize.

The Center for Worker Freedom

in an effort that include billboards, radio ads and town hall meetings.

There has been speculation that a UAW loss at Volkswagen would sap its attempts to organize other auto plants in the South.

But it could actually make the union redouble its efforts elsewhere, including Mercedes in Tuscaloosa County, because it needs a victory now more than ever, said Matt Patterson, executive director of the Center for Worker Freedom.

"This is not a threat that is going away," he said.

The Center for Worker Freedom is a special project of Norquist's Americans For Tax Reform. The group has not disclosed how much it spent on its efforts in Chattanooga, and Patterson declined to discuss the particulars of funding.

He said he will be in Alabama next week, meeting with community and business leaders.

Patterson's message is that the UAW is bad for business and it is intertwined with the bankruptcy of Detroit, the longtime hub of the U.S. auto industry.

"We'll be starting a coalition and getting a ground game going there, meeting people and learning about the concerns of the community," he said. "We hope that the business community of Tuscaloosa will not be late to realize the threat that the union poses."

On Saturday, a leader of the UAW effort at Mercedes said

Mercedes employee Jim Spitzley blamed groups like Patterson's and Tennessee state politicians for scaring Volkswagen workers.

"All transnational automotive plant workers need to wake up and fight for what's right in the workplace, and that's having a voice in the workplace," he said.

Other issues among employees who support the UAW is Mercedes' use of temporary workers at the plant.

They also have

Mercedes says it has done nothing improper.