Amazon Appears to Defeat Union Drive at Alabama Warehouse

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Amazon appeared to beat back the most significant labor drive in its history on Friday, when an initial tally showed that workers at its giant warehouse in Alabama had voted decisively against forming a union.

Workers cast at least 1,608 votes against a union, giving Amazon enough to defeat the effort, as ballots in favor of a union trailed at 696, according to a preliminary count. Hundreds of votes remained to be tallied, but are not enough to bridge Amazon’s margin of victory. Once the count is complete, the results will still need to be certified by federal officials.

The lopsided outcome at the 6,000-person warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., dealt a crushing blow to labor organizers, Democrats and their allies at a time when conditions have been ripe for unions to make advances.

Amazon, which has repeatedly quashed labor activism, had appeared vulnerable as it faced increasing scrutiny in Washington and around the world for its market power and influence. President Biden signaled support for the union effort, as did Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent. The pandemic, which drove millions of people to shop online, also spotlighted the plight of essential workers and raised questions about Amazon’s ability to keep those employees safe.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/technology/amazon-defeats-union.html

[Midnight Writer]

1. We need to keep swinging the hammer. That is the union way.

[blueinredohio]

2. Then if you have to pee in a bottle, so be it.

You reap what you sow.

[George II]

3. NY Times live update:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/business/amazon-union-vote-results.html?searchResultPosition=3[/quote]

738 to 1,798

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Amazon has defeated the unionization attempt in Bessemer, AL

Link to tweet

?s=20

[George II]

5. The vote is running at 29% yes, 71% no.

[maliaSmith]

6. Dumb dumb dumb

I guess Amazon workers don't want paid holidays, sick leave, annual leave and OT after 8 hours of work. They would rather work without these benefits. How dumb is that?

[MichMan]

7. Perhaps they were already getting them?

Don't know. Many non union workplaces also provide those benefits.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

8. We can find out here;

https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits

This is long on words, short on specifics. This really tells us nothing.

[mountain grammy]

21. Yes, they brag about a $15/hr starting wage

and they do provide benefits but, the company makes billions. Just like unionized oil and gas workers, many not in skilled positions, make big money because they're unionized and the companies earn billions, Amazon employees should be paid accordingly. The lowest starting wage at Amazon should be $70,000/year with benefits .

People should be in the fight for this, but American workers are beaten down.

[EX500rider]

28. "The lowest starting wage at Amazon should be $70,000/year with benefits"

So people picking stuff off shelves and putting them in boxes should make more then teachers or nurses?

Huge sales income does not equal huge net profit

[George II]

9. From the article, or update of the article (it's been revised a couple of times this morning):

William and Lavonette Stokes, who started work at the Bessemer warehouse in July, said the union had failed to convince them how it could improve their working conditions. Amazon already provides good benefits, relatively high pay that starts at $15 an hour and opportunities to advance, said the couple, who have five children.

“Amazon is the only job I know where they pay your health insurance from Day 1,” Ms. Stokes, 52, said. She added that she had been turned off by how organizers tried to cast the union drive as an extension of the Black Lives Matter movement because most of the workers are Black.

“This was not an African-American issue,’’ said Ms. Stokes, who is Black. “I feel you can work there comfortably without being harassed.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/technology/amazon-defeats-union.html

[speak easy]

14. I'm not sure having Killer Mike on site (March 26) was a good move.

Bernie Sanders joins union drive as clashes with Amazon intensify

Senator Bernie Sanders joined the drive Friday to unionize Amazon workers in Alabama as clashes intensified between lawmakers and the e-commerce giant ahead of a deadline for a vote that could lead to the first union on US soil at the massive tech company.

The visit by Sanders, joined by actor Danny Glover and rapper "Killer Mike" Render, marks the latest high-profile appearances in the contentious organizing effort for some 5,800 employees at Amazon's warehouse in Bessemer which culminates next week.

"If Amazon workers in Alabama can prevail in forming a union, it can be done all over this country," said Sanders, a former presidential candidate with a loyal following among progressives.

https://news.yahoo.com/bernie-sanders-joins-union-drive-155219531.html

[NurseJackie]

25. Vermont style politics don't always translate well in every place outside of Vermont.

[oasis]

10. Folks in Alabama vote for lousy state and national representation so....

[hobby10113]

12. My thoughts exactly.

They bought the right wing flavor aid years ago. I hoped they would vote yes but honestly not surprised.

[MarcA]

11. No Bread and Roses. Just Bread and Thorns. n/t

[radical noodle]

13. People who are relatively satisfied

with their benefits and salaries are not motivated to join a union that is going to charge them dues, particularly if they're not feeling mistreated.

I worked in offices of union companies for over 25 years and had regular interaction with those who were the union workers. They always had a number of complaints about the union. There's a distrust of unions that goes way back, I think. I benefitted more than the workers as I was classed as non-bargaining so got the benefits without paying any dues.

[VarryOn]

16. I've not seen anywhere what the dues were going to be....

Anyone know?

Are we talking a couple bucks per check or a lot more?

[OnlinePoker]

22. The info page for the union says (as of 2016) they don't pay any dues.

I don't know what a per person tax is, but total for all the members of that "tax" was $557,045 in 2016 or about $9.15 per member per year. Most of their income comes from investments. Maybe they decided dues weren't needed because they have so much coming in?

https://www.unionfacts.com/union/Retail,_Wholesale,_and_Department_Store#finance-tab

[VarryOn]

23. I found a a website that says Teamsters pay...

2.5 times their hourly rate per month in dues. So a $30/hr driver would pay $75/month. I don’t know if that’s typical or not. Not insignificant but not a bank buster either.

[radical noodle]

24. Most unions are different for each local

I don't know if that's true of that one or not, but I cannot imagine a union without some sort of dues.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Not Surprised

It's Alabama. Most of those employees have spent their entire lives hearing about "evil" unions & the glories of "right to work".
Many are indoctrinated to reject the very concept of unionization.

[George II]

18. It's not the fact that it's "Alabama", this is what some or maybe even a lot of people thought:

William and Lavonette Stokes, who started work at the Bessemer warehouse in July, said the union had failed to convince them how it could improve their working conditions.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Of Course It Does

Likely an accurate statement in nearly any RTW state.
Decades of union demonizing having such an effect should surprise nobody.
And, your quote doesn't do anything to minimize my thoughts on this. Having to be convinced is perhaps evidence of my opinion.

[marble falls]

17. I just don't get it.

[DENVERPOPS]

19. You should have been watching

When Reagan, (Actually HWBush/Cheney) took out PATCO air traffic controllers in the early 80's. It was a signal to all corporations that Unions in the U.S. were not to be favored in any way by this administration. It was the shot heard round the nation.
Shortly thereafter, the Denver Electricians Union was totally obliterated, along with Unions across the nation. A friend who was a journeyman and I had a talk about what the union's demise meant to him. He said he WAS earning 19.00 and hour, plus 26% fringe benefits. After the trashing of the union, he was making 12.00 and hour with no benefits. It took the better part of two decades to get back to near the level he was earning in the early 80's and that is not even figuring in inflation.

When Reagan fired a lot of the ATC members, I remember talking to a commercial pilot. He and his fellow pilots were extremely frightened by flying without experienced ATC controllers directing them. He said their eyes were constantly scanning in every direction to detect any other airplane in their flight path......He also stated that what they did to help with the problem, was to space the planes farther apart, causing large flight delays across the nation. They were explicitly ordered, when telling passengers about the delay, to not call it an Air Traffic Controller delay, but only that it was an ATC delay. The flying public didn't know what an "ATC" even meant.
Reagan didn't want the passengers to know that he was the cause of them being late all the time.

Know this: As I understand it, it takes three years to train an Air Traffic Controller, and that is after passing unbelievable testing to even be employed.. The super brave men and women jockeying the planes in any major city or region also have a decade of experience before they are put into one of those areas......

[JohnnyRingo]

30. ★★★★★

I remember those days of "The Great Communicator".
As a union member I rubbed my comrade's noses in it. No better than a scab.

[speak easy]

31. PATCO is a name that will live in infamy.

To quote of Counterpunch "the strike [was] one of the dumbest and most self-destructive moves ever made by a labor union".

PATCO was no friend of organized labour. In 1980 PATCO turned against President Carter and came out in support of Reagan .

[DENVERPOPS]

32. LOL

I guess Reagan showed them!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would love to have back a functioning un-biased NLRB once again........along with some of the repealed labor laws of yesteryears.

I could argue either side re: unions. But the fact remains, what came first......Corporations screwing the employees or employees screwing the Corporations..........

[Riverman100]

26. We always knew

That Alabama was that dumb. All conned-sevatives

[Yavin4]

27. Sure. Why take direct action to improve your life when you can just blame immigrants, Black people,

the LGBTQ community, feminists, liberals, coastal elites, etc. for your poor economic condition? They're the problem, right? Not good ole Amazon.

[former9thward]

29. The Amazon workforce is 85% Black.

And a majoirty female. So I doubt they are blaming the groups you mention.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56695667

[MrsCheaplaugh]

33. I wonder...

if Amazon started a whisper campaign in the plant saying that if the workers organize, they'll move the work to Mexico. Walmart does that every single time their workers attempt to form a union.