BESSEMER, Alabama (AP) – Democrats in Congress and national union leaders on Friday tried to support union support for a large Amazon facility outside of Birmingham, comparing the Alabama workers’ organization campaign to the civil rights movement.
Voting by mail of about 6,000 workers from the extended distribution unit began in February and runs until the end of March. It is the largest organizational attempt in the history of Amazon, which carries high stakes for the second largest employer in the country, which has a record of crushing unionization efforts at its Whole Foods warehouses and grocery stores.
The result is essential for Amazon and the organized workforce in general.
If the Alabama effort succeeds, it could trigger a chain reaction to Amazon’s nationwide operations, with thousands of workers demanding better working conditions and seeking collective bargaining. It would also be seen as a blessing for other labor sectors in the historic anti-union south and beyond.
US Representative Terri Sewell, whose congressional district in Alabama includes the Bessemer facility, welcomed four fellow members of the Democratic Caucus to the House to draw attention to the vote. Sewell noted that the delegation’s visit took place a few days before Selma, her hometown, commemorated Bloody Sunday and the 1965 voting rights march.
“These workers follow a rich tradition … of crusading against something that is wrong,” Sewell said, echoing some workers’ claims that Amazon’s working conditions and wages are inadequate.
“People are always watching Alabama win,” she said. “Birmingham, Bessemer, is so important that people know that Alabama is once again defending itself for civil and human rights.”
Representatives of Nikema Williams of Georgia, Cori Bush of Missouri, Andy Levin of Michigan and Jamal Bowman of New York traveled to Alabama to meet with Amazon employees and officials from the Union of Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores looking to organize workers.
The group gathered at the union headquarters and went to an intersection outside the Amazon complex.
The visit comes ahead of next week’s House vote on the PRO Act, a union-backed proposal aimed at strengthening workers’ ability to organize into collective bargaining unions. Lawmakers said they expected the measure to go beyond the Democrat-controlled house, but acknowledged they were facing an upward battle in the 50-50 Senate, where Republican opposition is enough to prevent the act from getting the 60 votes needed to pass. most major legislation.
At the Alabama facility, most of the 6,000 workers would have to vote “yes” to organize facility. Amazon tried unsuccessfully to postpone the vote and request the vote in person.
The company, which saw profits and revenues rise during the pandemic, campaigned hard to convince workers that a union would only cost them money. Company officials say workers are already getting what they would look for with a union: benefits, career growth and salaries starting at $ 15 an hour.
Others dispute this.
Levin, the Michigan congressman who was once a union organizer, called it “the most important choice for working people in this country in my life.”