Alabama
6.6%
Union Density in AL
The automotive industry has expanded dramatically in Alabama over the past several decades. Alabama is now a top five state in terms of both total workforce employed in the automotive industry and total automotive production capacity. In 2023, Alabama became the United States’s top exporter of automobiles, even beating out Michigan.
Why has the automotive industry been so successful in Alabama? The state’s lack of unions has given automakers the flexibility needed to thrive, creating countless opportunities for Alabamians. It’s no wonder that Alabama Autoworkers resoundingly reject the UAW whenever the union comes knocking for more people to pay union dues.
Last spring, Alabama autoworkers resoundingly rejected the UAW at Mercedes Benz’s plant in Vance. The campaign was marked by a series of embarrassments for the union. The University of Alabama and Auburn University both sent cease-and-desist letters to the UAW for illegally using their branding in pro-union advertisements. Coach Nick Saban also sent a letter to union activists asking them to stop featuring out of context quotes from him in pro-UAW advertisements.
“Shawn Fain had a lot of people fooled. We thought he was for us, that we had gotten the corrupt people out. He was named ‘man of the year,’ but he let us down… We were walking around the plant every day asking the UAW what was happening. They said they didn’t know? Why didn’t they know, they were taking dues out of our checks every month.”
– Anonymous Laid Off Supplemental Employee at Stellantis’s Toledo Assembly Complex