If the Mercedes workers vote this week to allow the United Auto Workers to represent them, they will become the second foreign-owned auto plant in the South to unionize, giving the UAW important momentum. Brent Snavel/Detroit Free Press/AP/File Workers at Mercedes-Benz factories in Vance, Alabama, are voting starting May 13, 2024, on whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers union. Seth Herald/Reuters A person holds a placard that says "Union Yes" as the result of a vote comes in favor of the hourly factory workers at Volkswagen's assembly plant to join the United Auto Workers union, at a watch party in Chattanooga, Tennessee, April 19, 2024.