The president of the United Auto Workers visited Alabama this weekend in the midst of the union’s biggest push at the state’s first auto plant.

UAW President Shawn Fain, and Region 8 Director Tim Smith, met with workers at the UAW union hall in Coaling, according to the UAW social media page at X.

Fain, who became the UAW president last year, led the union during 2023′s 46-day strike against the Big Three American automakers.

The six-week series of “stand-up” strikes, at some of the biggest auto plants in the country, featured workers at select locations walking off the job with very little notice. The strike resulted in pay increases and other concessions by the auto companies.

In an interview with Car and Driver Sunday, Fain said he thinks the ongoing campaign will result in gains for union members with international automakers similar to those seen with the Big Three in the U.S.

“I truly believe we’re going to see a huge shift this year. I think we’re gonna win in the South,” Faine said.

The UAW executive board has committed $40 million over the next two years to fund its organizing push among non-union auto and electric battery workers, concentrating some of the money in the South.

Last month, the United Auto Workers announced that more than half of the employees at Mercedes-Benz’s Vance plant have signed union cards, the first step toward getting the union recognized at the factory.

About 6,000 people work at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), which was the first auto plant to locate in Alabama. The plant produces the Mercedes GLE, GLE coupé and GLS model series. After investing more than $1 billion into its Alabama operations since 2017, Mercedes also produces the all-electric EQS SUV and EQE. The UAW announced last week that at least 70% of the workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant had signed union cards.

In February, the union announced 30% percent of the employees at Hyundai’s Montgomery plant had also signed cards.

The UAW’s strategy involves signing up 70% of workers at the plants, then petitioning the company to recognize the union. If the company doesn’t, the union will then turn to the National Labor Relations Board and take it to a vote. Once a union has been certified or recognized, the employer is required to bargain over terms and conditions of employment with union representatives.

It’s not the first time the union has attempted to organize at the Tuscaloosa County plant. An effort 10 years, alongside a union drive in Chattanooga, was unsuccessful.

Bloomberg reported in February that MBUSI CEO Michael Göbel, who oversees production in North America for Mercedes, told workers at the plant that he doesn’t believe “the UAW can help us to be better.”