WORKERS at Mercedes-Benz in Vance, Alabama, have voted against unionisation in a close vote that was preceded by an anti-union campaign by the German company which had promised to remain neutral.

Workers at the plant in Vance and a nearby battery facility voted 2,642 to 2,045 against the United Auto Workers (UAW), a 56 per cent No vote. The result was announced on Friday night.

UAW president Shawn Fain told workers at the count that while they were disappointed, the recent vote to unionise at Volkswagen in Chattanooga came after two previous defeats.

The heaviest anti-union activity at Vance came in the last fortnight, when Mercedes-Benz used compulsory meetings with employees to argue they should vote not to unionise.

Six state governors across the southern US also waded in against the union.

Although the UAW has five days to file complaints against the company the next steps remain unclear. The union says the $40 million (£31m) campaign for union organisation at other car manufacturers including Toyota, Hyundai and Tesla will continue.

Fain praised Vance workers’ courage and said those who had joined UAW had already forced the company to raise wages, end a two-tier pay structure and get rid of a recalcitrant CEO.

The company had been involved in “egregious illegal behaviour,” he said, with the US and German governments both investigating Mercedes. A senior source at the UAW said German union IG Metall had been incredibly supportive, as had unionised Mercedes plants around the world.