Mercedes-Benz workers at a factory in Alabama have begun voting on whether to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) this week, after the union was voted in at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee a few weeks ago.
On Monday, Mercedes workers began voting on UAW membership at the company’s factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with voting remaining open until Friday. The vote comes after a majority of workers at the Mercedes plant in February voted to hold a union vote, and after Volkswagen employees officially voted to recognize the UAW at the company’s factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last month.
The Mercedes vote is thought to be much less of a sure-fire victory for the union, especially with the automaker specifically telling workers that they should vote no through flyers and signage, as Reuters reports. The outlet also alleges that Mercedes hired anti-union companies to come speak at the plant, though the automaker has denied that it is using union-busting tactics at the factory.
“Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) fully respects our Team Members’ choice whether to unionize and we look forward to participating in the election process to ensure every Team Member has a chance to cast their own secret-ballot vote, as well as having access to the information necessary to make an informed choice,” a Mercedes spokesperson told Teslarati in an email.
“MBUSI has a strong record of success over the past 25+ years operating as One Team in Alabama. Our primary focus at MBUSI is always to provide a safe and supportive work environment for our Team Members, so they can continue to build safe and superior vehicles for the world. We believe open and direct communication with our Team Members is the best path forward to ensure continued success.”
Below, you can see the voting schedule for workers at the Mercedes factory, with the ballots set to be counted after polls close on Friday morning.
Credit: UAW
A spokesperson from the company told Reuters that Mercedes-Benz respects worker unionization efforts, adding that the company is making sure that each worker can vote secretly, while having all the details necessary to cast an informed vote.
“That is the biggest thing that we’re using to push because we can show how much the union can win now,” Mercedes employee Jacob Ryan told Reuters. Ryan adds that he supports the union due to the automaker’s failure to address worker concerns such as pay, hours, and benefits.
The employee has been at the factory for around five years, and under two years ago, he witnessed the plant struggling to get 20 percent of workers to file for a union election. To reach the point of holding a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election, as is now happening, the UAW says it waits for a facility to reach a 70-percent threshold of workers filing in favor of a vote.
The Alabama Mercedes plant produces the electric EQS and EQE lineups, as well as the gas GLE and GLS vehicles, according to the company’s website. The automaker also says it employed 6,100 workers in 2023, with around 295,000 vehicles produced there in the same year.
Although the Volkswagen plant had voted not to be recognized by the UAW twice before voting to join the union last month, this is the first time that a union election has been held at the Tuscaloosa Mercedes factory.
Following the UAW’s historic six-week strikes of Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis last year, which ultimately garnered record pay increases for workers, the union announced a campaign at several other non-unionized facilities. In addition to Volkswagen and Mercedes, the UAW announced plans to launch organizing efforts at Tesla, Rivian, and nine other automakers.
During the strikes, UAW President Shawn Fain also called employees at Tesla, Toyota and other automakers “members of the future,” later saying he hoped to bargain with the “Big Five or Six” in 2028, rather than just the Big Three.
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News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.
This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
News
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.
Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.
Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.
Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error.
More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report.
Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.
Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.
Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.
“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Downdetector reports
Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.
Previous disruptions
Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.
In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
