Unions double-down in the Deep South: Can Alabama pave the way?

Over the past several years, Alabama workers have found themselves at the center of three high-profile labor disputes in three industries. Antwon McGhee (left) has worked as a coal miner for 17 years. Isaiah Thomas formerly worked at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer. Moesha Chandler works in assembly at Mercedes-Benz in Vance. (Claire Harbage/NPR)

VANCE, Ala. — If you want to understand the state of labor in America today, take a drive through Alabama.

Not a long drive. Just a 25-mile stretch of I-20, between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. Here, union hopes have been raised, dashed and dragged out over years.