BERLIN, May 8 (Reuters) - German premium carmaker

Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday rejected claims that it has

been trying to prevent the formation of a union at its Alabama

plant.

The group "respects the decision of the employees to

establish a trade union organization, and it will monitor the

election process and will make sure that every team member has

the opportunity to cast a secret vote", Mercedes' board member

Renata Jungo Bruengger said at the annual shareholders meeting.

United Auto Workers, the United States' biggest automotive

union, said about 5,000 workers are set to vote next week on

whether to unionise at Mercedes' plant in Vance, Alabama.

Jeremy Kimbrell, a union drive leader at the factory,

claimed that Mercedes has been trying to counter unionising by

hiring anti-union consultancy RWP, which tried to discourage

workers from joining.

Kimbrell's claims were read out at the AGM by a

representative of Germany's Association of Critical Shareholders

(DKA), which represents small investors on environmental, social

and governance issues.

Mercedes declined to comment on whether it had hired the

consultancy, whose CEO on LinkedIn describes the firm as helping

companies to remain union-free.