German supplier giant ZF Group has been able to keep up production of axles at its Tuscaloosa, Ala., factory in the two days since UAW workers began striking there, allowing nearby production of key Mercedes-Benz models to continue.
“We are still running and in fact stable,” ZF spokesperson Tony Sapienza wrote in an email on Friday, adding that there have been “no interruptions” to Mercedes production.
It was not immediately clear how the plant is operating despite the strike. Sapienza declined to comment when asked if the company was relying on salaried or temporary workers to keep up production.
About 190 UAW members walked off the job on Wednesday at ZF’s chassis systems plant in Tuscaloosa after they voted down a contract offer from ZF. The strike raised the possibility of new-vehicle production being slowed down or stopped at Mercedes’ Vance, Ala., assembly plant, which receives front and rear axles from ZF.
In Vance, Mercedes builds the GLS SUV, GLE midsize crossover and GLE Coupe, in addition to the EQE electric crossover and EQS electric SUV, according to the Automotive News Data Center. The GLE was Mercedes’ second-highest-selling model in the U.S. during the first half of the year, trailing only the Sprinter van.
Requests for comment from Mercedes spokespeople were not immediately returned. Previously, the company said it was “monitoring the situation” at ZF.
Like the UAW’s larger strike against the Detroit 3, workers at ZF are striking over issues pertaining to wages and health care coverage. A top priority for the union with both actions is ending the tiered-wage system — a longtime point of contention between the UAW and auto companies.
Sapienza said on Friday that ZF “submitted an offer to the union that we believe is both fair and competitive and will continue to negotiate in good faith.”
Representatives for UAW Local 2083, which represents unionized ZF workers in Tuscaloosa, could not be reached for comment.
ZF, based in Friedrichshafen, Germany, ranks No. 3 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $42.1 billion in 2022.
