Demonstration organized by Workers Assembly Against Racism in support of workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, union rights at Union Square across the Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market.
Lev Radin | LightRocket | Getty Images
A group of Democratic members of Congress traveled to an Amazon warehouse in Alabama on Friday to show support for workers who are in the middle of a closely watched union vote.
Among lawmakers who visited Amazon’s facilities in Bessemer, Alabama, were representatives Andy Levin of Michigan, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Nikema Williams of Georgia. Lawmakers met with some factory workers, known as BHM1, before heading to the warehouse.
“I want Amazon workers across the country to pay attention because you should do the same thing at your workplace,” Bowman said on Friday at a press conference outside the RWDSU Mid-South Council union hall in Birmingham. , Alabama. “And we are not going to stop with Amazon. This is Lyft, this is Uber, this is Walmart, this is Tesla – all companies across the country that continue to be abusive and offer terrible working conditions for workers, we are with you. “
At the press conference, Bowman said the union campaign in Alabama demonstrates the need to implement better worker protections on Amazon and other companies in the United States. He described the work environment at Amazon as a “culture of abuse” and surveillance.
“If workers get out of line, they get some kind of demerit, and if you accumulate enough demerit, you get fired,” Bowman said. “Are we dealing with machines or widgets, or are we dealing with humans?”
Earlier this month, about 6,000 workers at the Bessmer facility began voting by mail about joining the Retail, Wholesale and Warehouse Union, starting the first major union effort within the company since 2014. Last November, workers at Alabama facilities notified the NLRB of its plans to hold a vote on the possibility of being represented by the RWDSU.
The legislators’ show of support came just days after President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed solidarity with Amazon workers trying to unionize the Bessemer facility, telling them to “make their voice heard”. Biden did not specifically name Amazon, but made reference to “Alabama workers”.
Several workers at the Bessemer Amazon facility also attended the meeting. Kevin Jackson, a BHM1 employee, said the union campaign aims to ensure that Amazon workers have “a place at the table like everyone else”.
“We are here to say that we are not going to be intimidated by anyone who tries to say they are going to say goodbye because of what we want,” said Jackson.
Amazon worker Kevin Jackson talks about the steps at RWDSU Central-South headquarters before a Congressional delegation visit to a factory near Amazon to show his support to workers who will vote on unionization in Birmingham, Alabama , March 5, 2021.
Dustin Chambers | Reuters
Amazon said earlier that it respects the right of workers to join a union, but also that its workers do not need a union to stand between them and the company. Amazon made clear its position on the union campaign for workers at the Bessemer plant, holding mandatory meetings against union membership and creating a website that asks workers to “do this without paying anything”.
In a note, Amazon spokeswoman Heather Knox encouraged lawmakers to visit one of the company’s call centers to observe working conditions there.
“We expect these members of Congress to spend that same amount of energy to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour – as Amazon did for all of our employees in 2018,” Knox said in a statement. “We are proud to pay more than double the federal minimum wage, while offering comprehensive benefits, paid leave and short and long-term career growth – all in a safe and modern work environment.”