The Guardian: “A push to unionize workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama is running into tough opposition as the retail giant, whose profits have boomed during the coronavirus pandemic despite concerns over worker safety, has launched an aggressive anti-union drive.
If workers at the BHM1 warehouse in Bessemer, near Birmingham, succeed in their efforts they would form the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the US.
The warehouse opened in March 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic. By the end of 2020, the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union said over 2,000 workers at the warehouse signed union authorization cards ahead of the election workers filed for in November 2020.
Ballots for the election are scheduled to be mailed out to about 5,800 Amazon workers on 8 February, with vote-counting scheduled for 30 March 2021. Lawyers for Amazon are currently trying to appeal against the decision to allow the election to be carried out by mail, and have requested the election be delayed until their appeal is reviewed.
Ahead of the union election, Amazon has strongly encouraged workers to vote against the union through texts, messaging, an anti-union website and several anti-union captive audience meetings with workers at the warehouse.”