Mercedes-Benz workers cast final votes in high-stakes UAW election

After a watershed victory last month in Tennessee, the United Auto Workers is vying for a repeat performance Friday in Alabama.

The final votes have been cast in the election to determine whether more than 5,000 workers at Mercedes-Benz near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, join the UAW, with the National Labor Relations Board expected to announce the results in the afternoon.

David Johnston, 26, an employee at the Mercedes battery plant in Woodstock, said he expected the UAW to prevail. That would mark another major step for the labor group as it seeks make inroads in historically union-averse Southern states, following a vote by Volkswagen workers last month to join the union.