TUSCALOOSA, AL—Mercedes-Benz US-International is in violation of federal labor law for prohibiting employees from organizing inside its assembly plant here when they are off the clock, an appeals court ruled on Monday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a 2014 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that Mercedes employees are free to solicit other employees to join the UAW Local 112 on the plant site.

CHATTANOOGA, TN—VW will appeal to federal court a National Labor Relations Board decision upholding a vote in which a small group of skilled trades workers at the carmaker’s Tennessee assembly plant aligned with the UAW.

JACKSON, MS—The National Labor Relations Board is charging Nissan Motor Co. and a contract worker agency with violating workers’ rights at the company’s assembly plants in Mississippi and Tennessee. Filed Monday, the charges claim Nissan’s uniform policy illegally stifles workers’ right to wear pro-union or anti-union clothing.

in August, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that companies using temporary workers are considered “joint employers” of those workers and share responsibility with staffing agencies for liabilities regarding them.

WASHINGTON—The National Labor Relations Board will decide whether employers must permit employees to use workplace e-mail in their collective action to improve wages, hours and working conditions. The decision could hand unions a major weapon in their efforts to unionize.