United No Longer

Alabama factory votes for fifth time to decertify union

Alabama factory workers voted for the fifth time in two years to break ties with the UAW on Tuesday.

Workers at NTN-Bower voted 74-52 to boot the union off the premises of the manufacturer, making it the third time anti-union employees have beaten UAW Local 1990 in the last 18 months.

Local 1990 did not respond to request for comment.

Union opponents have received legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation throughout the process. NRTW spokesman Patrick Semmens said the fifth vote should settle any doubts about the will of the workers.

“Once again, employees at the Hamilton NTN-Bower plant have made it abundantly clear that they are not interested in the UAW’s so-called ‘representation,’” he said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.

The 22-vote margin is a bit smaller than the fourth ballot held in February, in which workers voted 82-50. The union filed challenges to the fourth ballot before the regional National Labor Relations Board, alleging that management interfered with the campaign. The NLRB ordered a fifth ballot in May.

“Unfortunately, it has already taken these workers five elections in less than two years to rid themselves of one stubborn union,” Semmens said. “Employees shouldn’t have to clear this many hurdles to remove an unwanted union.”

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