VANCE, Alabama -- Members of the German labor union IG Metall are playing a key role in the latest effort by the United Auto Workers union to organize at Tuscaloosa County's Mercedes-Benz plant.



Union members from Germany have been traveling back and forth between their country and Alabama throughout the course of the campaign, which has been underway for more than a year.

They spend a lot of time talking to Alabama workers about the benefits of the union at other plants operated by Mercedes' parent, Daimler AG, including better pay and pensions, an organized voice and greater say in workplace issues, they say.

"It's not something bad, having a union," Denise Rumpeltes, a member of IG Metall who sits on the works council at the Sindelfingen plant in Germany, said during a recent visit to Alabama. "It's a culture at Daimler."

And what is motivating IG Metall to get involved in the Alabama campaign?

Critics of the union campaign say Mercedes' decision to shift production of the C-Class sedan to Alabama, which starts next year, is the driving force.

Rumpeltes acknowledged that IG Metall fought hard to keep production of the C-Class at the Sindelfingen plant, but the union's motivation is to make sure the plants aren't competing against each other, she said.

The new C-Class also will be built at a plant in Bremen, Germany, along with plants in China and South Africa.

"It's necessary that we have somebody we can talk to, to ensure the company doesn't play us off against each other," Rumpeltes said. "If Tuscaloosa is building cars for half the money, then the pressure is on us ... It's OK if they're building the cars over here, but it's not OK if they're not getting the same benefits."

But comparisons between labor unions in the U.S. and Germany can be tricky because of the different rules governing them, say labor lawyers and others familiar with both systems.

In general, the set-up tends to be more collaborative in Germany, where members of management and the rank and file -- both union and non-union workers -- sit on committees called works councils that discuss workplace issues without being limited by the language of a union contract.

Here in the U.S., there's a more adversarial system marked by collective bargaining between management and a third party, the union, which has been elected by a majority of employees.

Rumpeltes and other supporters of the UAW campaign at Mercedes say a German-style works council could be set up at the Alabama plant, achieving the same effect seen at the automaker's plants in Germany.

Others argue against that, saying it isn't possible under U.S. labor law.

Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, management is barred from sitting on such a committee, and they could not bargain with a works council, said John Raudabaugh, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board and professor of labor law at the Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Fla.

In fact, if the union is voted in, by law it would fill the role that it is saying the works council would have, he said.

Raudabaugh, who also works with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, said the works council idea is simply a selling point manufactured by the UAW.

"All they're doing is trying desperately to look for a new way to continue their business, knowing full well that their history has so tainted them," he said.

The UAW campaign at the Mercedes plant has intensified this year. Though the union won't pinpoint the status of the campaign (it needs 30 percent of the workforce to sign authorization cards for an election), people on both sides say it is the most high profile effort that's been seen yet at the plant.

On Thursday, however, the UAW's efforts in the region were dealt a blow. Employees at auto supplier Faurecia Interior Systems in Tuscaloosa

That vote came on the heels of successful union votes last year at two Mercedes suppliers in Cottondale: Johnson Controls and another Faurecia plant.

The UAW has made no secret of the priority it has placed on the South, where it has yet to organize one of the big auto assembly plants. UAW President Bob King has said the union's longterm survival depends on success in the region, and similar campaigns are underway at Volkswagen and Nissan.

Mercedes employees who support the union cite growing frustration with the increasing use of temporary workers at the plant, as well as uneven enforcement of rules and policies that results in inconsistent evaluations and favoritism in promotions.

David Gilbert, who has worked at the plant since 2004, said he used to argue against unionization, and he was on the fence about the latest campaign up until this spring.

But he said he's been swayed by declining morale at the plant, as well as the lack of an organized employee voice when it comes to things like safety and ergonomics.

In June, Gilbert went to Germany for a gathering of management and union representatives from Daimler plants around the world. The collaboration he saw there would be a great benefit for the Tuscaloosa County plant, he said.

"I am pro-company," he said. "I want the company to succeed."

Gilbert says he also is a conservative Republican who voted for Bentley and would vote for him again. But he thinks the governor's public stance against the UAW campaign in Vance is out of line.

Bentley has said the union would harm his efforts to bring new business to the state.



"I would like for him to keep his opinion to himself instead of trying to influence people," Gilbert said.

Other workers at the plant disagree, saying the UAW's presence at the plant would destroy everything they have worked for over the past two decades.

They have formed a website, uawno.org, where they have posted information on how employees can revoke a UAW card they signed if they are now having second thoughts.

"We know the German union IG Metall is not here to make a better life for us, they are here to make sure we do not get any more jobs in Alabama and to take the ones we do have away from us and back to Germany," the group states.

For its part, Mercedes said it is continuing to take a neutral stance on the UAW campaign. A company statement says the decision regarding union representation is up to its employees.

"Our Team Members are our greatest asset at MBUSI, and they are welcome to express their views and opinions on this topic," the statement reads. "We have enjoyed 20 years of success in Alabama because of the foundation our Team Members helped us put in place from the beginning. Our team-oriented work environment and unique culture fosters open communication, competitive wages and benefits, training and development opportunities and direct access to management. We believe the culture we have established is our best path forward for a successful future."