Amazon. The warehouse employees of com Inc. in Alabama vote on a union this month. Whatever the outcome, the e-commerce giant is under pressure from workforce around the world to change its working conditions.
So far, those actions have ceased without a formal union push, but each action involves hundreds of workers and shows how working conditions in Amazon warehouses are increasingly in the spotlight. President Biden and other high-profile figures have weighed in on the mood in Bessemer, Ala., Among warehouse workers. Senator Bernie Sanders, a frequent Amazon critic, will travel to Alabama on Friday to meet with Amazon employees, a spokesman said. Thousands of votes have already been cast in the mail-in election, which ends on March 29.
None of Amazon’s 800,000 US employees are unionized. A vote to form a union in Alabama would give employees more power to negotiate with the company on things like wages and benefits.
Elsewhere, Amazon employees collect petition signatures hourly, discuss potential strikes, and consult with unions about potential demands. The groups are trying to adjust company policies regarding the speed at which to prepare packages, as well as breaks and shift schedules – all factors that can make Amazon a physically demanding workplace, employees say. Problems like this have emerged among many employees during Amazon’s expansion and the drive to speed up delivery times.
“It would be a win for us, and it would boost others,” Jennifer Bates, a work organizer in Bessemer, said in an interview. “It would be a fire starter.”