Organizers and workers are giving the final push in the first election of the Amazon warehouse union in the US in Bessemer, Alabama, which, if successful, would mark one of the biggest labor victories in the United States in recent decades.
The struggle to form a union in the highly profitable technology and retail giant sparked immense political interest and pushed labor rights to the front pages of America, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, when warehouse workers for online retail became a essential workforce.
Workers’ ballots are due to arrive at the National Labor Relations Board’s regional office in Alabama by March 29 to be counted. The majority of the votes cast determine the outcome of the election, with about 5,800 voting employees.
The ballots for the election were sent to workers on February 8. Amazon’s attempts to delay the vote and force a personal election were denied by the National Council for Labor Relations.
The union effort has received several high-level endorsements, including a video released by President Joe Biden stating his support for workers’ right to organize unions, endorsements from various members of Congress, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, other unions. , such as the NFL Players Association, the MLB Players Association, the support of Black Lives Matter and several local organizations.
Darryl Richardson, a waste picker who helped start the union organization campaign after contacting the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union last year, emphasized that broad support for the union effort helped significantly.
“It made a big difference because we had a lot of employees who didn’t understand or know anything about the union or what the union could bring to the company. With the help of everyone around the world supporting us, it changed people’s ideas on how to vote, ”said Richardson. “You had undecided employees about it, confused about it, who were going to vote ‘no’, but now the table has turned, and many have come and said they would vote ‘yes’.”
The unionization effort in Alabama has broadened the broader discussions about Amazon’s role in the growing wealth and income inequality in the U.S. and the issues of racial justice that were further exposed during the coronavirus pandemic. Union organizers estimate that 85% of workers in the Alabama warehouse are black. Of Amazon’s workers in the U.S., 27% are black.
On March 17, the US Senate budget committee held a hearing on the Income Inequality and Wealth Crisis in America, where Jennifer Bates, a warehouse worker at Bessemer Amazon, noted during her testimony: “We, the workers , we made billions for Amazon. I often say, we are billionaires – we just can’t afford to spend. “
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos declined the invitation to attend the hearing.
According to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, Amazon’s profits increased by $ 9.4 billion compared to 2019, and Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos saw his net worth increase by almost $ 68 billion. The report noted that Amazon could have quintupled the hazard pay provided to workers during the pandemic and still exceed 2019 profits.
Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, was one of several important visitors to the union organization base in Bessemer during the union election. She noted that the Amazon union election in Alabama has broader connotations for the entire United States labor movement and for the dignity of workers.
“They have turned their eyes from all over the world to Bessemer, Alabama, and there is a lot of pride in that,” said Nelson. “They are starting a new era of organization. Whether they get the vote in this election to win or not, they have already won because they have sown the conscience of people who work everywhere, who feel they have no respect where they live and work and are not happy where they are, that they have no to take it and they really have a way to counterattack ”.
Amazon has been strongly opposed to union membership for years in the United States, successfully crushing previous union attempts in the United States, although it has not faced an organizational effort on the scale of the Bessemer deposit.
Richardson and other Amazon workers involved in the union organizing effort fought for months against an aggressive anti-union campaign in the Amazon.
Amazon is spending almost $ 10,000 a day, plus expenses with anti-union consultants for the union election, as workers faced regular meetings with captive audiences encouraging workers to vote against the union and were inundated with anti text messages. -unions, advertisements, pamphlets, posters throughout the warehouse, and an anti-union website was launched. More recently, during the election, a USPS mailbox was installed in the warehouse and instructions were sent to workers on how to vote against the union.
A report by the Economic Policy Institute in December 2019 found that employers are accused of violating federal law in more than 54% of union elections with large bargaining units and U.S. employers spend about $ 340 million annually on consultants specializing in avoiding unions.
Amazon’s anti-union arguments often cite the company’s $ 15 minimum wage and claim that the company already offers everything a union offers, while emphasizing union fees. A recent New York Times report noted that Amazon’s starting wage of $ 15 an hour is about $ 3 less than the average wage in Birmingham, Alabama’s metropolitan area, and that workers in nearby warehouses strongly unionized workers receive higher wages.
“I really feel like we’re going to win,” added Richardson. “If the union enters, the power will be divided and people will have a voice. You will have someone to represent you to ensure that you are not fired just because it will ensure that you are treated fairly, work in a safe environment and that promotions are fair. The union can make a difference. “