"At an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., 5,805 workers have won the right to vote for union representation. The National Labor Relations Board has authorized a mail-in election starting Feb. 8, with ballots due by March 29.
Workers in Bessemer started organizing last year, as the pandemic caused intensified exploitation and enormous danger for workers at Amazon. Then, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter Uprising, the union drive started to grow. These workers, nearly 85% Black, are organizing a union to fight for racial and economic justice at Amazon.
A win in this “right-to-work-for-less” state would establish the first-ever U.S. union within the world’s largest online retail company owned by the world’s richest billionaire, Jeff Bezos. As of January 2021, Bezos’ net worth is $190 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The median wage of an Amazon worker is $28,848, according to their annual securities filings.
Amazon is doing everything it can to stop the union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, from winning. Amazon is holding mandatory closed-door, captive-audience meetings during which managers spread lies about the benefits of unionizing. Amazon is posting misinformation about unions in bathrooms, break rooms and across the internet. Workers face growing intimidation for defending their rights to demand a union contract.
Join the growing movement in solidarity with Bessemer Amazon workers as we demand:
- Amazon: Stop all forms of union-busting at Bessemer! No intimidation, no lies, no retaliation!
- No mandatory anti-union meetings! No firing of pro-union Amazon and Whole Foods workers anywhere; in Bessemer, the U.S., or across the world!"
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Numbers on these sort of things are used in propaganda and in bargaining meetings to show mass support. The higher the number, the more impressive it sounds. It helps spook executives but also improve morale at the warehouse.
