Mercedes-Benz Group AG vowed not to make anti-union threats as part of a deal to resolve a U.S. labor board case over the company’s response to a high-stakes Alabama organizing drive.Under a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board, the automaker said it will distribute, and adhere to, a notice about employees’ union organizing rights. That notice, obtained by Bloomberg News through a Freedom of Information Act request, includes statements such as “WE WILL NOT threaten you with the closure and/or relocation of the facility to a non-union location, like Mexico, or anywhere else, if you choose to be represented by a union.”

Alabama Mercedes employees voted 2,642 to 2,045 against joining the United Auto Workers in a 2024 election, a major setback for the recently reinvigorated union’s efforts to expand its ranks. The UAW alleged that illegal interference by the company — including retaliation against union supporters — prevented a fair vote.

As part of the new settlement, Mercedes agreed to revoke discipline it had issued to one employee. The company also agreed not to threaten employees with loss of benefits if they unionize, “unlawfully surveil or interrogate” them about distributing union materials in non-work areas during their breaks or otherwise “interfere with, restrain, or coerce” employees from exercising their organizing rights.

The settlement could fuel additional scrutiny on Mercedes in the U.S. and Germany, where the UAW has been urging government agencies and elected officials to make the company comply with its own official principle that it “shall remain neutral” when unions try to organize.

NLRB prosecutors approved the settlement this week despite the objections of the UAW, which deemed the terms insufficient, according to the records viewed by Bloomberg. The union had argued that Mercedes management should be required to read the notice aloud to employees, but the agency concluded that was not necessary, an NLRB regional director said in a letter to UAW attorneys last week.

An NLRB spokesperson declined to comment on the settlement. Crystal Carey, the agency’s general counsel, has prioritized settlements as the agency grapples with a vast backlog of pending cases."I always feel like there is a way to get to a resolution," Carey, who oversees the agency's enforcement arm, said in a February interview. Speaking at an American Bar Association conference in Hawaii on Wednesday, Carey said that insisting notices be read aloud “is meant for an enhanced or more egregious situation,” and otherwise shouldn’t be a sticking point preventing a settlement.

(With assistance from Bill Haubert.)

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