Some employees of the Internet company Amazon apparently failed with the proposal to establish unions in a distribution center in the US state of Alabama. This is shown by the ongoing voting results. If the employees succeeded, they would be the first unions in this American company. The vote, overseen by the national trade union of retail, wholesale and department store employees (RWDSU), has been described as historic by the British BBC.
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By Thursday evening, almost half of the votes cast had been counted, and interim results showed that 1,100 employees had rejected the proposal to form a union. On the contrary, only 463 of them want unions, the AP agency said.
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The votes are counted in Birmingham, Alabama, where representatives of the National Industrial Relations Council count each vote manually. According to RWDSU, which organized Amazon employees at the Bessemer distribution center, 3,215 employees commented on the proposal. That’s about 55 percent of the nearly 6,000 who could vote at the Bessemer plant in the suburbs of Birmingham. Which party has more votes will be declared the winner.
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RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum signaled in a press release on Thursday that if the vote does not work in favor of the unions, RWDSU, as a national trade union, will go to court. Amazon has not yet commented on this.
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“Our system has broken down and Amazon has taken full advantage of it. We will appeal to the Industrial Relations Council to hold Amazon to take responsibility for its illegal and outrageous behavior in this campaign, “said Appelbaum, without substantiating his allegations. “But lest you misunderstand me – this is an important moment for the working people. His voice will be heard, “added the union leader.
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Both union representatives and Amazon officials launched a vigorous campaign before the vote to get the majority of employees on their side. Amazon, for example, had leaflets posted at a warehouse in Bessemer highlighting the disadvantages of union membership.
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He convened mandatory meetings to convince employees that being in a union was not a good idea, and reminded that he already offers a wage in Alabama that is more than double the minimum wage, and that bonuses still apply. He also pointed out that there are fees associated with trade union membership, which, however, will not automatically provide workers with better working conditions.
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The voting of employees of the Amazon distribution center in Alabama attracted the attention of national and foreign media. Professional athletes, Hollywood stars and President Joe Biden, elected by the Democratic Party, spoke in favor of the staff. This is the second time in Amazon’s 26 years that it has been voted on a proposal to form a union. In 2014, warehouse workers in the state of Delaware opposed a similar proposal.
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