Wall Street Journal (11/07/13) Neal E. Boudette

German auto maker Daimler AG’s union has joined the United Auto Workers’ efforts to organize Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in Mississippi. Similarly, Volkswagen AG labor officials are assisting the UAW’s drive to represent employees at its plant in Tennessee. German workers are concerned that nonunionized U.S. plants are a threat to German jobs.

Increasingly, auto unions in several countries are trying to build alliances that reflect the global range of the large auto makers. The impact of this is being felt in the U.S., where the UAW says it likely will soon organize its first foreign-owned plant in the South because of the extra pressure from German employees.