- Just before workers at its Alabama assembly plant voted to join the UAW, Mercedes reappointed the head of its U.S. manufacturing division.
- Earlier this week, the union accused Michael Goebel and Mercedes of anti-union activities.
- Goebel will continue to work at Mercedes and has been replaced by Frederico Kochlowski.
The CEO of Mercedes-Benz US International, which runs the automaker’s assembly plant in Vance, Alabama, resigned shortly before workers voted to accept UAW representation.
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Michael Goebel has been CEO of Mercedes-Benz US International since 2019, but on Tuesday the company announced that he would be replaced by Frederico Kochlowski the following day. While it’s not unusual for executives at the automaker to change roles, the timing of the change is notable.
More: UAW charges Mercedes over alleged anti-union campaign
Workers at the plant will vote May 13-17 on whether to join the UAW and have recently accused Goebel of anti-union activity. The CEO was accused of trying to “curb union activity” and held a mandatory plant-wide meeting at which he expressed that he did not believe the UAW could help the company and that workers would not pay union dues would have to pay.
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The move could be a peace offering aimed at reshaping relations between workers and management, Art Wheaton, a labor expert, told Autonews. “It’s a way to reassure workers, but it’s unlikely to stop the vote,” Wheaton added.
In fact, the UAW’s complaints went beyond Goebel. The organization alleged workers were intimidated, threatened and fired by Mercedes, including a pro-union worker with stage four cancer who was terminated because of a “zero tolerance policy toward cell phones” that he had previously been given permission to use received via a “short chemo drug”.
Although it is still unclear whether Mercedes workers will join the UAW, the union said it would not call a vote until it received 70 percent support. The referendum comes at a time when pro-union sentiment is strong and just weeks after employees at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, made the historic decision to agree to UAW representation.
After leaving his role as head of Mercedes-Benz US International, Goebel is now listed on LinkedIn as Mercedes’ Head of Operations North America. His successor, Kochlowski, was previously head of COMPAS, the Mercedes-Nissan joint venture manufacturing operation based in Mexico.
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