Alabama Arise Updates & Talking To a Police Union Vice President About Police Within The Labor Movement - TVLR 10/10/26

Uh, so the reason that she sent this letter to the prime minister of this state, so, you know, presumably the, the equivalent here in the United States would be, uh, a governor, right? Uh, was about the election interference by Mercedes in the state of Alabama.

Becau- and she reached out to this governor equivalent in Germany because that state in Germany is where Mercedes is headquartered.

And so, you know, f- folks who have listened to this show know a, a bunch of the stuff that's gone on at Mercedes in Tuscaloosa.

Uh, they had an election a few years ago that was rife with interference by the company.

Uh, for-- The, the most important thing legally is that they broke the law.

They retaliated against workers for their union support.

They disciplined workers for their union support.

They fired workers for their union support, both before and after the election, to try to squash any attempt to restart a campaign.

They also changed work rules.

They took down union flyers.

Um, and so all of that kind of stuff is, that's illegal in the United States under our law, the National Labor Relations Act.

It is illegal for your supervisor to surveil you, to, uh, you know, inquire about your union support, to ask you if you support the union, or to retaliate against you for your support or for your lack of support of a union.

Mercedes violated all of those laws, um, the UAW alleges.

But importantly for Germany and for, uh, Mercedes as a company internationally, they also, in a, a, in an even more egregious way, violated Mercedes' own principles.

Because Mercedes is a company, you know, headquartered in Germany, that has a very strong union movement.

Uh, 40% of the board by German law is made up of unionists, of representatives of the union.

They have a, the, what's called a co-determination model.

Um, and their, their, uh, commitment to social principles or, you know, whatever, principles of social responsibility, whatever the thing is called, says that not only are they not going to violate the union laws in any given country, they will remain neutral In an election, right? So that's far above and beyond obviously what the American law is.

You know, the American law i-i, you know, I think unfortunately does allow companies to outwardly oppose a union election.

And that's, you know, and so unions within the American legal system have a right to do that.

But Mercedes as a company has committed to itself and to Germany that they would remain neutral in any union election in the world.

And so obviously that was not the case in the state of Alabama in Vance when workers tried to organize with the United Auto Workers.

Uh, in addition to all of the law-breaking that they did, they held meetings with workers to try to convince them not to organize.

They brought in preachers to walk the line and encourage workers not to organize.

They held...

Uh, so the reason that she sent this letter to the prime minister of this state, so, you know, presumably the, the equivalent here in the United States would be, uh, a governor, right? Uh, was about the election interference by Mercedes in the state of Alabama.

Becau- and she reached out to this governor equivalent in Germany because that state in Germany is where Mercedes is headquartered.

And so, you know, f- folks who have listened to this show know a, a bunch of the stuff that's gone on at Mercedes in Tuscaloosa.

Uh, they had an election a few years ago that was rife with interference by the company.

Uh, for-- The, the most important thing legally is that they broke the law.

They retaliated against workers for their union support.

They disciplined workers for their union support.

They fired workers for their union support, both before and after the election, to try to squash any attempt to restart a campaign.

They also changed work rules.

They took down union flyers.

Um, and so all of that kind of stuff is, that's illegal in the United States under our law, the National Labor Relations Act.

It is illegal for your supervisor to surveil you, to, uh, you know, inquire about your union support, to ask you if you support the union, or to retaliate against you for your support or for your lack of support of a union.

Mercedes violated all of those laws, um, the UAW alleges.

But importantly for Germany and for, uh, Mercedes as a company internationally, they also, in a, a, in an even more egregious way, violated Mercedes' own principles.

Because Mercedes is a company, you know, headquartered in Germany, that has a very strong union movement.

Uh, 40% of the board by German law is made up of unionists, of representatives of the union.

They have a, the, what's called a co-determination model.

Um, and their, their, uh, commitment to social principles or, you know, whatever, principles of social responsibility, whatever the thing is called, says that not only are they not going to violate the union laws in any given country, they will remain neutral In an election, right? So that's far above and beyond obviously what the American law is.

You know, the American law i-i, you know, I think unfortunately does allow companies to outwardly oppose a union election.

And that's, you know, and so unions within the American legal system have a right to do that.

But Mercedes as a company has committed to itself and to Germany that they would remain neutral in any union election in the world.

And so obviously that was not the case in the state of Alabama in Vance when workers tried to organize with the United Auto Workers.

Uh, in addition to all of the law-breaking that they did, they held meetings with workers to try to convince them not to organize.

They brought in preachers to walk the line and encourage workers not to organize.

They held...