United Auto Workers

Starting Monday, around 5,200 workers at a Mercedes-Benz assembly-and-battery complex near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will begin voting on whether to join the UAW.

The UAW fought for protection if factories shut down. But workers in other carbon-intensive industries could find themselves displaced.

The deal follows the pattern set with Ford last week and Jeep maker Stellantis over the weekend.

The practice dates back to the federal bailout in the 2000s.

Contracts with Ford, GM and Stellantis all end at the end of Thursday, and the president of the United Auto Workers union has made clear that members are prepared to strike.

The union is making its case for the increase citing the higher cost of living and strong auto industry profits.

Auto production made the biggest manufacturing gains in June, but an increase in COVID-19 cases now threatens that progress.

There are some concessions the union had been pushing for, but the closure of the Lordstown, Ohio, plant remains a sticking point.

The Big Three have a profitable decade behind them. But from changing consumer tastes to the advent of the autonomous car, threats loom on the horizon.

The United Automobile Workers told its members it would increase strike pay from $200 a week to $275 by January.