Nick Saban says he's taken no stance on Mercedes union vote, despite ads

With more than 5,000 workers in Tuscaloosa County's two Mercedes-Benz factories voting this week whether or not to join the United Auto Workers Union, voices have rung out not just at the assembly plant in Vance and battery plant in Woodstock, but on online, through streaming services and standard TV ads.

Many speaking out are line workers, but at least one famous face shows up in some of the TV ads, tied to comments the former University of Alabama head football coach says have been taken out of context.

More: Mercedes-Benz U.S. International names new CEO/president as union vote nears

Nick Saban released a statement Sunday to clarify: “I recently learned the United Autoworkers (UAW) union has taken the liberty of featuring my comments in advertisements released as part of its campaign to organize workers at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. (MBUSI).

"Not only were these comments taken entirely out of context, they were also being used without my knowledge or permission. I do not personally endorse the UAW or its campaign and have asked the UAW to remove any advertisements featuring me from circulation.

"I encourage all (MBUSI) team members to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election.”

The union vote is set to begin Monday, and end Friday.

The ads use images from visits Saban has made to the Vance assembly plant, giving leadership and team-performance talks to the workers, the most recent in February, after he'd announced his retirement from UA.

Saban has spoken generally about worker organization previously, when asked about the possibility of a union for college football players.

His words used in the ads include these: “It never scares me that people are organized. General Motors and the automotive industry has had unions for a long time, and they’ve survived, fairly well I think. There’s been a lot of businesses that have been successful and worked with unions for many, many years. So I’m not anti-union. Unionize it, make it like the NFL.”

The nonprofit group creating the ads is More Perfect Union Solidarity. The pro-labor group shared the commercials to Alabama TV stations, and streaming services such as Hulu, Paramount plus, and others.

Saban owns seven Mercedes-Benz dealerships, in Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Texas, but has said he mostly leaves leadership to Joe Agresti, of Dream Motor Group, formed in 2023. DMG also owns Infiniti and Ferrari dealerships.

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban: Ads implying UAW endorsement took his words out of context