FAQs

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal government agency, will conduct the safe and secure secret ballot election from Monday, May 13, 2024, through Friday, May 17, 2024, at five voting locations throughout the main plant in Vance, one location at the Battery plant, and another location at GSP in Woodstock.

Team Members will be assigned to a specific voting location based on their primary work location. Please see here for a map of voting locations inside the plants.

We have worked with the NLRB to make sure there are convenient polling locations at each facility and voting times available for all shifts to make it as easy as possible for you to vote. While Team Members will be able to vote in their assigned voting location any time the polls are open, Team Members in each area will also have a specific time during which they will be released from work to vote if they so choose. Details on this release schedule and when each area will be released will be made available soon.

NLRB agents will conduct the election onsite and all votes will be submitted via paper ballot. Your vote is completely secret. No one will know how you voted unless you tell them. You can still vote however you choose, whether for or against union representation, even if you may have previously signed a union authorization card.

We are working with Team and Group Leaders to make sure all eligible Team Members have time to vote during working hours so you don’t have to worry about finding extra time to vote. This will be done via a release schedule, the details of which are being finalized and will be made available soon.

All full-time and regular part-time Production and Maintenance employees employed by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., at its facilities located at 1 Mercedes Drive, Vance Alabama 35490 and 933 Scott G Davis Parkway, Woodstock, Alabama 35188.

This group is sometimes referred to as the proposed "bargaining unit."

All employees employed by contractors or employee leasing companies and/or temporary agencies, student workers, professional employees, guards, managers and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act.

No. Contractors (including those employed by The Onin Group) and administrative Team Members are not eligible to vote.

The NLRB decides who is eligible to vote in the election.

No, a union authorization card is NOT a vote for or against the union. Union authorization cards simply enable the union to request that the NLRB hold an election. The only way to have your voice heard is to vote in the election. You can vote in private, either for or against union representation regardless of whether you may have signed a union authorization card.

No, you do not have to sign a union authorization card to be eligible to vote. You also do not need to “sign up” or register for the election. And if you did sign a card, you can still privately vote "NO" against union representation.

No, you can still vote "NO" against the union during the election. Your vote is secret and cannot be linked to you or your union authorization card, if you signed one. No one will know how you voted unless you tell them.

No. Your vote is secret. Your ballot will not contain your name, job title, work location, or identification of any kind. No one will know how you voted unless you tell them.

No. Alabama is a right-to-work state, which means you are not required to join the union or pay dues to keep your job if the union is voted in. However, if the union is elected ALL Team Members in the proposed bargaining unit will be represented by the union. Even if you vote against union representation, do not vote at all, or do not want to join the union or pay dues, you will still subject to representation if the union is voted in.

The NLRB agents conducting the election will count the ballots shortly after the last voting window closes at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, May 17, 2024.

Keep in mind, the ballot count may take several hours. We will share an update with Team Members as soon as we know the outcome.

Yes. MBUSI supports every Team Member's right to participate in this effort and vote in the NLRB election. We also respect every Team Member's right to decide whether to vote "no" or "yes" to unionization. Whatever the outcome, we want it to be reflective of the majority of Team Members in the proposed bargaining unit, and the only way for that to happen is for everyone – no matter their stance – to vote. That’s why we are encouraging every single eligible Team Member to get the information they need to make an informed decision and vote in the upcoming election.