Damn

The UAW lost the unionization vote at Mercedes Benz in Alabama.  This was after 70% of the employees signed petitions for the election.

There are a number of possible reasons for this, it was the first attempt, the effort was too top down, push-back from fascist Republican politicians throughout the south, and aggressive tactics, which are being investigated by both US and German regulators, but I think that the biggest reason was that Mercedes removed the plant manager (not a firing, a sideways transfer) and promised to do better.

That was kind of a big deal, since Michael Göbel had been plant manager (technically CEO of the plant) for 5 years.

They won't do better, of course, because if they wanted to do better, they would never have built the plant in Alabama, but firing the plant manager impressed the workers, as did bringing in legendary former University of Alabama Football coach Nick Saban to give an anti-union dog and pony show.

I may be whistling past the graveyard, but I recall that it took three tries to unionize at VW in Chattanooga, so this is only the beginning.