Mercedes Incentives, Part II

     Sixteen years after Alabama offered $253-Million in incentives to lure Mercedes to locate a plant in Alabama, The Birmingham News reports this afternoon that new incentives of as much as $100-Million were used to convince the company to move production of its C-class auto from Germany to Vance, Alabama, site of it's sprawling M-class plant.
     Of course $100-Million isn't what it used to be, sixteen years ago,
     What the News does not report is the uproar the decision has caused at Daimler AG's Sinelfingen plant in Germany, where the cars are manufactured now. The Tuscaloosa News has an AP story about the mass-protests by some 12,000 employees, who are vowing to fight the move.
     Alabama so-called "right to work" status (i.e. anti-union) has been one of the unwritten incentives used to lure auto assembly plants and other companies to the state. Germany's workforce is highly unionized. And its workers receive higher pay and generous benefits because of their unionization.
     The News story indicates some of the new incentives are in tax breaks and AIDT training, but some cash is being used from the State and local governments.
     Just where that cash will come from is anybody's guess. The state has cut the budgets of all government agencies during the Great Recession.