Southern States (US)

How Jazz Musicians Like Louis Armstrong Paid Homage to Trains With Music

For Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, even their fame couldn’t fully protect them from the terrifying violence of Jim Crow. But the railroad, particularly the elegant Pullman sleeping car, provided a “home away from home.”

By Larry Tye

Batteries Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Factories and Manufacturing Ivey, Kay Labor and Jobs Mercedes-Benz Organized Labor Politics and Government Southern States (US) Tuscaloosa (Ala) United Automobile Workers Wages and Salaries

UAW Loses Unionization Vote at Mercedes Factories in Alabama

The election, fiercely opposed by the state’s political leaders, was seen as a test of the United Automobile Workers’ ability to unionize factories in the South.

By Jack Ewing

Daimler Truck AG Employee Fringe Benefits Factories and Manufacturing Freightliner Labor and Jobs Mercedes-Benz North Carolina Organized Labor Southern States (US) Strikes Trucks and Trucking United Automobile Workers Wages and Salaries

Daimler Truck Workers Reach Deal and Avert Threatened Strike in North Carolina

The United Automobile Workers reached an agreement involving workers who make Freightliner trucks and Thomas Built buses. The deal comes as the union seeks to expand in Southern states.

By Jack Ewing

Elections Factories and Manufacturing Labor and Jobs Mercedes-Benz Nissan Motor Co Organized Labor Southern States (US) United Automobile Workers United States Economy Volkswagen AG

Could the Union Victory at VW Set Off a Wave?

Some experts say the outcome at a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., may be organized labor’s most significant advance in decades. But the road could get rockier.

By Noam Scheiber