Penske-Owned Mercedes Dealership Fires 20 Striking Technicians

As reported by Automotive Information, dealership technicians at Penske-owned Mercedes-Benz of San Diego went on strike in mid-June. Much more than a month has handed since the strike began, and it would seem tensions involving the union professionals and management have boiled over. Dealership management hired scabs to cross the picket line, made official accusations of inappropriate picketing habits in opposition to the putting technicians, and fired 20 of the picketing personnel. The dealership is now trying to get to lasting substitute the strikers.

The strike began on June 17th following negotiations broke down concerning management at Mercedes-Benz of San Diego, a dealership owned by Penske Automotive Team, and the dealership’s experts, represented by Global Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Area Lodge 1484. The technicians’ former agreement expired in April. Administration presented a 15.1-percent improve in base shell out for grasp specialists, and 10-p.c improve in foundation pay out for qualified specialists. Union members sought guarantees around how quite a few hours they’d get to do the job on a weekly foundation, and that seems to have been the sticking point exactly where negotiations broke down.

Pedro Gomez, a Mercedes-Benz of San Diego technician and union store steward, has grow to be the public spokesperson for the union experts on strike. Gomez has been lively on social media, especially TikTok, directly interacting with the public to raise recognition and garner aid for the strike. He has said that negotiations ahead of the strike were being headed in direction of a compromise till dealership administration tried to pressure and intimidate staff into accepting a deal faster. As Gomez instructed the San Diego Union-Tribune:

They unilaterally transformed a bunch of guidelines, they’re daunting our co-personnel and placing them on closing observe for guidelines they should have never applied even though we’re negotiating.

At the start of July, tensions ramped up when Mercedes-Benz of San Diego submitted an unfair labor tactics complaint from the union with the Countrywide Labor Relations Board. The complaint claims that the union “encouraged blatant picket-line misconduct,” citing illustrations where picketing workers blocked the entry and exit to the business. The dealership went on to use this party as pretext to hearth 20 of the 36 putting professionals. Gomez advised the Union-Tribune:

If we’re picketing and prospects have to wait around for us to cross the driveway, certainly that would hinder them from likely straight through… but is it unlawfully harassing them? I disagree.

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There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for the strike. Mercedes-Benz of San Diego has posted work listings for technician positions brazenly stating that new hires will be permanently changing the placing specialists.