UAW strikes ZF plant that supplies axles to Mercedes in Alabama
The UAW early Wednesday struck a ZF Group plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., that builds front and rear axles for Mercedes-Benz vehicles built nearby — raising the prospect of vehicle production being affected there as soon as Thursday.
The expectation is that Mercedes will run out of ZF-built axles at its Vance, Ala., assembly plant by Thursday, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. It was unclear if that would shut down production of internal combustion engine vehicles only, or if it would extend to the full-electric vehicles also built there.
Mercedes builds the GLS SUV, GLE midsize crossover, and GLE Coupe, in addition to the EQE electric crossover and EQS electric SUV, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
“It’s a just-in-time plant, and they’re going to run out of parts shortly,” Fiorani told Automotive News.
Spokespeople for Mercedes did not immediately respond to a request for comment on AutoForecast Solutions’ expectations. Earlier in the day, Mercedes-Benz USA spokesperson Felyicia Jerald said the automaker is “monitoring the situation” but did not say if the strike was impacting vehicle assembly.
If the strike against ZF forces vehicle assembly to be shut down or reduced at Mercedes, it would create a historic situation in which UAW actions caused production to be impacted at four automakers simultaneously.
The ZF strike comes amid the union’s larger strike against the Detroit 3, which began Sept. 15 with workers walking out at three assembly plants and could expand on Friday if the UAW does not see enough “serious progress” in talks with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis by then.
About 190 workers at ZF’s chassis systems plant in Tuscaloosa walked out at 5 a.m. local time after voting down ZF’s latest contract offer, the UAW said in a post on its website. Core issues for workers there include wages and a tiered-wage structure, in addition to health care coverage, which a union source said “might be the lead issue” for UAW Local 2083, which represents the workers.
