Mercedes Tuscaloosa Plant: Union or No Union?

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on March 31, 2006 

Earlier this week, news began circulating about the attempted plans  
to form a union at the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

The efforts, which are being led by the International Association of  
Machinists and Aerospace Workers, are aimed at organizing the work  
force at Mercedes' Vance plant.  In a quote published by the  
Washington Times, Bobby Ray Thomas, a 49-year-old inspector who has  
worked at the Mercedes-Benz plant since production began in 1997, had  
this to say about the situation: "We want a union, and one of us has  
got to go first to give the rest of these boys an opportunity.  
Somebody's got to get these dominoes falling."

Today however a different picture is being painted, with the  
Birmingham News reporting that a group has been formed to resist the  
union campaign.  Calling themselves the Mercedes Team Information  
Committee, the group has hired noted union buster Jay Cole to help  
aid their opposition.  Cole, who aided workers when the United Auto  
Workers targeted the factory six years ago, believes the attempts  
will fail.  According to Cole:  "What we learned last time with the  
UAW, these folks with Mercedes are making the best money and benefits  
they could possibly get anywhere.  They beat any union contract  
that's out there. All the union can do is pose problems and possibly  
cause that to change."

Despite the opposition, the union attempts are continuing.  Union  
organizers are currently staying at a hotel across from the Mercedes  
plant, handing out informational flyers and meeting with employees in  
their homes to talk about joining the union.  Don Barker, lead  
organizer for the union, also continues to remain optimistic. "People  
are receptive to the idea of protecting their wages and benefits,  
especially since the auto industry seems to be in a downturn," Barker  
said recently.  "People are concerned here about what's going to take  
place in the future. The primary issue is job protection, seniority  
protection."

Right.  What a crock of shit.

I'm not in a debating mood, so I'm going to keep this short.

As an entrepreneur, I have a basic fundamental work ethic. I believe  
that in a job, any job, an employee's duty is to perform the tasks  
required by the position to the highest possible standards.  In the  
world of business, this is a rare commodity.

But for these select few, I believe the rewards should be greater.  
Better pay, greater chance of promotion, higher job security.

Enter the union.

Unions operate under a different set of principles.  In a union,  
you're all one big happy family.  Everyone's equal; everyone's special.

Does it matter that you work twice as hard as the guy standing next  
to you?  Nope.  You're all equal.  Unless of course the guy standing  
next to you has been working there longer, in which case he benefits  
from seniority and actually ranks higher than you.

This is absurd.

As evidenced by Ford, GM and Delphi, enforcing this ideal will lead  
to one thing and one thing alone - the company will lose money.   
Productivity will decrease, under-deserving employees will be  
unfairly rewarded, and job reductions will be needed.

If the workers of Tuscaloosa (or anywhere for that matter) want job  
protection, my recommendation is simple - be better than everyone  
else.  Downturns are inevitable in any industry, but by outperforming  
your peers in a non-unionized position, your chances of facing  
unemployment are far less than if you had a union to "protect" you.

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