UAW Video Reveals Mercedes CEO's Huge Pay Before Alabama Union Vote

A recent video exposes the huge compensation of Mercedes executives compared to the modest raises given to non-union autoworkers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala. The video highlights an 80% pay increase received by Mercedes CEO Dimitris Psillakis and contrasts this with the minimal pay increases for the workers.

You can access the video here, which portrays the experiences of three Mercedes workers. Media outlets are welcome to use the footage.

The workers discuss the disparity between their 6% pay increase and the massive 78% pay raise given to Mercedes' management board. They condemn this as the “Alabama Discount” and call for change in the compensation practices at Mercedes.

This video release follows the recent tentative agreement at Daimler Truck, establishing record increases in pay, profit-sharing and cost-of-living adjustments for 7,000 UAW members in the South.

The Daimler contract is another significant achievement for the UAW following last year's historic contracts with the Big Three automakers, sparking a wave of unionization across non-union autoworkers at Mercedes, Volkswagen, and other car manufacturers.

Last week, autoworkers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN, overwhelmingly voted to join the UAW, marking the first auto plant in the South to unionize in decades.

The workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Ala., will vote on joining the UAW from May 13 to 17. For more information, visit uaw.org/join.