Amazon workers and organisers in Bessemer, Alabama, are making house calls, wearing pro-union T-shirts, and challenging anti-union messaging by Amazon-hired consultants as they try to persuade their coworkers to unionise their warehouse for the second time in a secret ballot election that begins Friday.
The fresh organising tactics come just two months after the National Labor Relations Board ordered a re-election after finding that Amazon had unfairly influenced the last election. Workers largely rejected the union at the time, with a turnout of 53 percent and a vote of 1,798 to 738.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is spearheading the union push once again, has enlisted the aid of other unions, including teachers and postal clerks.
According to Stuart Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU, the union is also courting community groups such as Greater Birmingham Ministries in order to spread the message that Amazon workers are more than just warehouse workers who deserve respect.
“In order to entice corporations, Alabama has a long history of suppressing workers’ rights,” said Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries. “This has to come to an end.”
RWDSU believes that more than half of the 6,100 employees at the Alabama plant who voted last year are still eligible to vote in this election. However, the figures also reveal a high rate of employee turnover, which has made it difficult for organising efforts in Bessemer and elsewhere to gain traction.
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