NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - After shrinking for decades, America’s private sector labor unions could get a shot in the arm later this month as 5,800 workers for one of America’s biggest employers, Amazon.com Inc, vote by mail on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
The outcome could have far-reaching implications, not just for workers at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Bessemer, Alabama, but also for the company as a whole and the growing U.S. e-commerce sector that so far has fended off most labor organizing.
While Amazon touts higher wages and more generous benefit packages than those offered by many other service industry employers, worker Dale Richardson told VOA he voted to unionize.
“They treat us like we’re just a number — like we’re nobodies,” he said. “I’ve been there for almost a year now, doing the best work I can do, and nobody — no manager — asks me about my goals. They don’t care about us.”
Richardson points to Amazon ending worker hazard pay in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. He says he has seen coworkers reprimanded for talking during their shift and fired for taking too long for bathroom breaks.
“They give us two 30-minute breaks over a 10 or 11-hour shift, but it can sometimes take 10 minutes of that break to walk across the facility,” he said, noting the massive fulfillment center is the size of 16 football fields. “It’s not uncommon to walk all the way to the bathroom on your floor to find that it’s not working, or that it’s closed for cleaning. Now you have to walk to another floor’s bathroom, most of your break is used up and you might get fired if you don’t get back in time. It’s a lot of stress.”
Last-minute shift changes are also not uncommon, according to Richardson, who hopes joining RWDSU would improve conditions for workers.
“If they can help us get a little more job security, so they can’t fire us whenever they want,” he said, “and help organize us and represent us to advocate for equal opportunities for promotions and pay increases — that’s why I’m voting to unionize.”
Amazon didn't address those specific concerns, but spokesperson Owen Torres emphasized communication between managers and their employees.
"Direct dialogue is essential to our work environment in which we encourage associates to bring their comments, questions, and concerns directly to their management team with the goal of quickly improving the work environment and challenging leadership assumptions," he said.
Ballots were sent to employees on Feb. 8 and must be completed and received by the National Labor Relations Board by March 29. What is unfolding is one of the most closely watched unionization efforts in decades as RWDSU and Amazon jockey to persuade undecided workers how to vote.
Amazon insists it does right by its workers in Alabama – and everywhere else.
“We opened this site in March and since that time have created more than 6,000 full-time jobs in Bessemer, with starting pay of $15.30 per hour, including full health care, vision and dental insurance, 50% 401(k) match [for retirement savings] from the first day on the job,” the company said in a statement provided to VOA. Amazon said it provides “safe, innovative, inclusive environments, with training, continuing education, and long-term career growth.”
Such statements don’t impress RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum. Nor does Amazon’s backing for a national $15 hourly minimum wage, up from $7.25 currently.
“Society is celebrating essential workers like the ones who work at Amazon,” Appelbaum told VOA. “But then we’re also going to cut their hazard pay? That doesn’t make sense, and I think Americans understand we need to celebrate them by rewarding and supporting them.”
Appelbaum added, “We’re in a unique moment in history, and I think that’s why people across the country and around the world are watching how we do.”
Without specifically mentioning Amazon, President Joe Biden recently urged “workers in Alabama” to exercise their right to organize and “make your voice heard.”
"Unions lift up workers, both union and non-union, but especially Black and brown workers," Biden said in a video posted to Twitter.
Casting labor unions as a promoter of racial justice resonates with Jennifer Bates, one of many people of color working at the Bessemer fulfillment center.