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Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama rejected joining the United Auto Workers union on Friday, a major setback in labour’s campaign to organise foreign-owned carmakers across the US south.

The National Labor Relations Board said 2,642 votes had been cast against union representation, versus 2,045 in favour. The plant assembles luxury sport utility vehicles, including electric and ultra-luxe Maybach models.

The high-profile defeat is a reversal for the UAW after its landslide victory at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga last month. Union leaders had hoped that vote marked the beginning of a wave of labour gains across the US south.

The Detroit-based union, which represents more than 400,000 active workers, has said it hopes to capitalise on the record 25 per cent pay rises it won for Ford, General Motors and Stellantis employees after a strike last year.

UAW president Shawn Fain on Friday said the union would continue organisation efforts at the Vance, Alabama plant. “This isn’t fatal. This is a bump in the road. We will be back in Vance, and I think we’ll have a different result down the road,” he said.

Mercedes said it hoped its employees continued to view the company as “not only their employer of choice, but a place they would recommend to friends and family”.

Lawmakers across the south have used generous subsidies and promises of low-cost, non-union labour to attract foreign carmakers to their states since the 1970s. The union says the so-called “Alabama discount” has helped Mercedes increase its profits 200 per cent over the past three years.

The region’s “right to work” laws give workers the ability to opt out of paying union dues, making it more difficult for labour organisations to support themselves financially.

Union organisers faced far greater resistance at Mercedes than at Volkswagen. After the union announced 70 per cent of the facility’s 5,075 eligible employees had signed union cards, Mercedes replaced the plant’s chief executive, eliminated an unpopular two-tier wage plan that paid longer-serving employees more, and implemented an 11 per cent pay raise.

A double-sided sign hung on the plant’s fence urged workers to simply “vote” on the external public-facing side, but to “vote no” on the inside. Pictures of the sign went viral on social media.

Stephen Silvia, a professor at American University who studies labour relations, called it “a classic anti-union campaign”.

Mercedes previously said it respects employees’ right to organise and was providing workers with the information they needed to make an informed choice.

Local officials also fought the UAW. Alabama’s Kay Ivey, a Republican, was one of six governors who signed a letter calling the UAW “special interests looking to come into our state and threaten our jobs and the values we live by” before the VW election last month. Mercedes was one of the first car plants in Alabama and was widely credited with reviving the state’s manufacturing sector, said University of Alabama professor Michael Innis-Jiménez.

“They are quoting this as the best place to do business because you can pay the workers less,” Innis-Jiménez said. “I think the politicians here are scared that [if the union wins] companies will just stop coming in.”

In March, Alabama passed a state law designed to complicate union organising by denying subsidies to companies that voluntarily recognise a new union.

Despite the loss, the UAW is likely to continue campaigning to organise workers at foreign-owned car plants across the country, Silvia said, but might slow the pace at which it files for representation elections. The union’s next targets may be a Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Alabama and a Toyota plant on the outskirts of St Louis, Missouri, Silvia added.

Eddie Almance, left, and his sister Leila, pose for portraits taken by their cousin Ailem Villarreal on the rooftop of the Marriott Hotel in downtown Odessa, Texas

Danielle Villasana/Danielle Villasana

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Danielle Villasana/Danielle Villasana

Eddie Almance, left, and his sister Leila, pose for portraits taken by their cousin Ailem Villarreal on the rooftop of the Marriott Hotel in downtown Odessa, Texas

Danielle Villasana/Danielle Villasana

It’s prom season, and we asked you to share stories from that special night, whether you went last year or decades ago.

We received many heartwarming stories about going to prom with friends, future spouses and high school sweethearts.

Some people told us they didn’t go to prom at all — or didn’t go with a date. Some people learned big lessons at their prom, while others had unforgettable mishaps.

Here are some of the memories you shared with us. And remember that you can participate in future callouts by signing up for NPR’s Up First newsletter.

Day-of mishaps didn’t stop the celebrations

Marshall Metcalf from Taylorville, Ill. recalls how, after walking into his prom, his “nose exploded in a spontaneous fountain of blood.”

It was “Kind of like Footloose, without the fighting or dancing. Just an enormous nosebleed, all down the white rented shirt,” Metcalf wrote. “I dove into the bathroom to clean up, terribly embarrassed. But to my great surprise no one commented on it the rest of the night. Guess my classmates weren’t that bad after all.”

Anthony Rodas from Wisconsin almost crashed his car when his date mentioned she was dating someone else. “On the way there, she nonchalantly mentions, ‘Oh, by the way, that guy is my boyfriend.’ I drove through a stop sign — which has flashing red lights below the sign as well as little LEDs around the signs themselves, the least excusable stop sign to run — as I am processing what had just happened,” Rodas wrote. His date was a little startled and concerned, but no one was hurt and they made it safely to prom. “It was rather awkward, and we spent a good portion of the prom doing our own things, but we did dance to a few songs and still ended up having a good time,” Rodas wrote.

Jessica Reitano also ended up marrying her prom date. In 1990, her and her now husband crashed a prom when she came back home from college.

Jessica Reitano

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Jessica Reitano also ended up marrying her prom date. In 1990, her and her now husband crashed a prom when she came back home from college.

Jessica Reitano

Josh Waters in Georgia wrote that his “prom date was so mad at me because I refused to wait in line for pictures right when we got there.”

After three hours of dancing to Boyz II Men, the pair looked “a sweaty mess. However, it must not have made her that mad,” Waters wrote. “We just celebrated 16 years of marriage.”

Prom night was clouded by difficult times, personal and political, for some

Robin Dias of Scottsdale, Ariz. went to prom in Darien, Conn. in 1968, as unrest around the Vietnam War reached its peak. The spring was fraught with protests, political unrest and the assassinations of two of America’s most high profile leaders, Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy. Dias wrote that “It almost seemed wrong to want to dress like a princess at a ball when there was so much turmoil,” Dias wrote.

She recalled her mother standing in her bedroom, ironing while the TV blared with the news of the MLK funeral march. Dias’ mother sighed, and said aloud, “It’s all so terrible. But I really hope the school won’t cancel the proms this spring. You kids still deserve to have your Prom Night.”

Casey Promise Thompson was one of the only openly gay students at her prom night in her small town in Tennessee.

“I walked in, nervous of people’s reactions to me wearing a tux. I had lived a life of being severely bullied and not being the best at making friends. But I had evolved over time and tried to learn to connect to others through art,” Thompson wrote to us.

She would give away her doodles and sketches all the time. She estimates she probably gave away hundreds of drawings. So, it came as no surprise that by senior year, she was voted “Most Talented” by her classmates.

Of course, this would mean that she would have to get on stage at prom and accept her award with all the other superlatives. “I was immediately nervous and sick to my stomach,” she wrote. “Instead of the expected cold shoulder and fear of being laughed at, they all smiled and welcomed me.”

Thompson learned an important lesson that day: “It suddenly dawned on me that my art had made an impact. Everyone did know who I was. I had actually been a popular kid my Senior year and I didn’t even know it. My brain had built up this idea that no one liked me all of these years, and right before I graduated high school…I finally learned that people actually did respect and appreciate me. My art has made me into someone.”

Romantic dates weren’t always the focus of prom

In 2010, Karley Ford went to her senior prom with her best friends instead of a date.

Karley Ford

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Karley Ford

In 2010, Karley Ford went to her senior prom with her best friends instead of a date.

Karley Ford

Karley Ford in Colorado told us that she “had the worst luck with getting dates to… literally any dance. I was just perpetually single. Prom was no exception. Junior prom, my date got swine flu. Senior prom, my date decided to go with someone else– one week – before prom. I had already gotten his boutonniere in 2010.

At senior prom, Ford said she expected to be depressed because she was going alone. One of her good friends asked Ford to join her as her “date” a couple days before.

“The best thing, though, was this picture. We had been friends since grade school, and it was one of the last hurrahs together before going off to college or wherever the wind took us,” Ford wrote. “Despite me not having a date, my childhood friends all rallied together, made sure that I had reasons to smile and reminded me that I am never alone (and I didn’t need a stinkin’ date).”

Going with a friend also made things 10 times more fun for Laura Popielski in Washington D.C. “My best friend and I decided to go to prom months before the date. He was gay and I was a bit of a wallflower when it came to dating/boys so it made good sense to go together,” Popielski wrote. “Nine years later, he passed away and now it’s been ten years since that… and I still remember how fun it was to collaborate with him, how we were the perfect pair.”

Some who didn’t attend prom are stamping their own traditions on the day

Ananya Paul grew up in India and never went to prom. Now in California, she “will be making memories when my rising Junior wears a saree to her prom. Our children take pride in celebrating and showcasing their culture.” Paul wrote that it is “heartening” to see more students wear traditional attire like sarees or lehengas to prom in recent years.

“What’s also intriguing is how my daughter has chosen to go to prom with her girlfriends rather than a date. It speaks volumes about the evolving dynamics of friendship and independence among today’s youth,” Paul wrote. “It’s these unique cultural shifts and personal choices that make each prom season special and memorable in its own way.”

Chad Campbell contributed production to the audio version of this story and Ally Schweitzer edited. The digital version was edited by Obed Manuel.

“This new flash deal is for two days.” “$11.99!” “Other deals down in the cart.” “You get the bra, the top and the leggings, all for $16.” This is Solaris. She’s 21, and she sells products on TikTok LIVE for a living. “Listen, if my body isn’t representative of yours, there’s someone in those reviews who is. I’m going in for about four hours – 3 to 4 hours – and take an hourlong break, and then I get back on for the remainder of the day. I can pick something up and immediately, just like, Look at this little guy, why don’t you — He’s cute. Don’t you love him?” TikTok launched its in-app shopping feature in the U.S. last year, hoping to replicate the success of its Chinese sister app, Douyin. To do that, it has partnered with third-party agencies like this one, run by Chinese Americans with experience in e-commerce. TikTok offers the agency sample products and negotiates with brands on their behalf. The goal is to train creators to sell products live to a social audience and make the platform a mainstream shopping destination in America. “3, 2, 1. All right, Skye, you claim the orange. I got you, my love.” Streamers go live for several hours each day from this tiny studio in Manhattan, New York City, hawking everything from snacks and clothes to toys and press-on nails. “Please make sure that these are at least in your cart right now, OK? If they’re not in your cart right now, you’re going to have missed out on your chance to get this. It’s hard to explain my job to my friends. Everyone, you know, like, is on TikTok, but my friends don’t know about TikTok LIVE. Until they actually watch me on it, they’re like, But what are you doing?” “Let me show you real quick how you place an order with us, all right?” “There’s only a few single digits left, items for small and medium for this color too. So get it while you can.” These operators have a whole playbook of tactics to drive sales, like celebrating each purchase with a ringing bell — “Right here. That’s another sale. Thank you for purchasing, guys.” and offering limited-time flash deals exclusively for viewers. “Comment the word ‘me’ if you do want us to do another flash sale deal for these. Because I just came in here, I want to be able to give you guys some deals too, OK?” On her biggest day, Maria sold $10,000 worth of jumpsuits after eight marathon hours of livestreaming. But on some days, the haul is just a few hundred dollars. It all depends on who sees the livestream and how often. “Because of that, I’ve learned to really rely on my hourly pay and not rely on my commission too much.” “I get paid $25 an hour plus 2 percent commission. This is definitely like the best-paying job for my set of creative skills that I could get at the moment.” “We have some giveaway starting right now, guys. If you’re just joining, welcome.” TikTok Shop has grown rapidly. The company has reportedly set a goal to reach as much as $17.5 billion in sales by the end of this year. But even that is still peanuts compared to its sister app, Douyin, which has become an e-commerce juggernaut in its own right. It sold over $200 billion worth of goods in China last year. That’s about a fourth of what was sold on Amazon globally in 2023. But TikTok’s major e-commerce push in the U.S. comes at a precarious time. The government passed a law that would force TikTok to be sold or face a ban. “It’s a little scary because it’s, like, I work on TikTok. That’s my job. That’s how I make my full- time money to pay my bills, pay my rent, pay my credit card off. It kind of definitely makes me very uncertain as to, you know, where am I going to go after this.” Though many believe the phenomenon of social e-commerce will still take off here, even if TikTok isn’t around long enough to see it through.