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WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) probed senior Biden administration officials for their attempts to sway the outcome of a Mercedes-Benz unionization election.

In a letter to Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Chairwoman Foxx is demanding information regarding the Biden administration's attempts to influence the outcome of a unionization vote at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, as voting was underway.

In the letter, Foxx writes: “On May 17, Mercedes-Benz employees at a plant in Vance, Alabama, voted not to join the United Auto Workers (UAW). In this election, 56 percent of the workers cast their ballots against UAW membership, with more than 90 percent of eligible workers voting in the election. Simultaneously, the UAW became the first U.S. union to file charges using a new German supply chain law. The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is concerned about recent reports of unusual and inappropriate communications between you and German government officials in what appears to be an attempt to impact the outcome of this election.”

Foxx continues: “On May 6, a news report stated that U.S. government officials had a phone call with German government officials and raised concerns over the Mercedes-Benz representation election in Alabama. … A later report regarding the call also indicated that you prodded Germany to examine the UAW’s allegations against Mercedes-Benz at the direct request of UAW President Shawn Fain. On May 16, the UAW announced that the German government was investigating Mercedes-Benz as a result of charges filed by the UAW in Germany. … It appears the Biden administration, through your actions, sought to put its thumb on the scale to benefit the UAW as the Mercedes-Benz election in Alabama was pending. It also suggests the UAW sought to use your influence and the White House’s bully pulpit to impact a union representation election.”

Foxx concludes by requesting answers to the following:

• Did you raise concerns with German government officials over the Mercedes-Benz representation election in Vance, Alabama, at the request of the UAW?
• In your call with German government officials, did you or any other White House official ask Germany to initiate an investigation of Mercedes-Benz before the Mercedes-Benz union representation election in Alabama concluded?
• Was the purpose of the call with German government officials to discuss the Mercedes-Benz union representation election in Alabama? Were other labor issues or representation elections discussed?
• When did the call with German government officials take place? Provide any White House call logs related to this call.
• Did you discuss your call with German government officials with any employees of the Department of Labor or the NLRB? If so, who?
• Is a local union representation election a national security issue? Why is a local union representation election occupying the time of the U.S. National Security Advisor?

To read the full letter, click here.

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