Amazon is gearing up for its toughest labor struggle so far, with two separate union elections coming as early as next week that could give more impetus to the recent wave of organizational efforts across the country.
Warehouse workers on Staten Island, New York, and Bessemer, Alabama, will determine whether or not they want to form a union. If a majority votes yes to any of the sites, it would mark the first successful U.S. organizational effort in Amazon history. The rejection would be another victory for the second largest company in the country to keep the unions in check.
What will the Bessemer and Staten Island elections look like:
New York vs Alabama
The union picture in Alabama is completely different from that in New York.
Last year, union members accounted for 22.2% of salaried and salaried workers in New York, just behind Hawaii, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is more than double the national average of 10.3%. In Alabama, it is 5.9%.
Alabama is also a state with a right to work, which prohibits a company and a union from signing a contract that obliges workers to pay dues to the union that represents them. Pro-work experts have said many may feel intimidated by companies that could undermine the unionized store.
New York is not a state with the right to work, and Amazon is trying to use it to its advantage. The company tells workers it could fire them if they unionized but did not pay union dues. But this requirement is not a general mandate for states that do not have the right to work and is something that is negotiated during union contracts, said Jennifer Sherer, senior state policy coordinator at the left-wing Institute for Economic Policy.
The workers
The predominantly black workforce at Alabama facilities reflects the Bessemer population of more than 70% of black residents. There is little public transportation, so many of Amazon’s workers drive to the facility from as far away as the Montgomery subway, nearly 100 miles south.
Trade unionists say they want better working conditions, longer breaks and higher wages. Full-time employees at Bessemer’s facilities earn at least $ 15.80 an hour, more than the city’s estimated average of $ 14.55 per hour. At Staten Island’s Amazon facilities, workers earn a minimum hourly wage of just over $ 18, well below the city council’s estimated average of $ 41 per hour.
Workers in the New York metropolitan area travel long distances to the company’s warehouse, often alternating between the subway, a ferry, and a 40-minute public bus ride.
The Amazon union said it has no demographic breakdown of warehouse workers on Staten Island and Amazon declined to provide the information. Internal records leaked to The New York Times since 2019 showed that more than 60% of partners per hour of the facility were black or Latino, while most executives were white or Asian.
Amazon’s strategy
Amazon sees unions as a threat to its business model based on fast customer deliveries.
“As a company, we don’t believe unions are the best answer for our employees,” an Amazon spokesman said in a statement. “Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue to make Amazon a great place to work.”
The online retail giant continues to mark the message that offers benefits such as health care, 401 (k) plans and a prepaid college tuition program to help grow workers’ careers. He launched a website for workers at both stores that questioned the benefit of the unions and has been removing emails, text messages, emails and brochures.
He has also relied on consultants and managers to hold mandatory staff meetings to talk about why unions are a bad idea. These meetings were stopped in Bessemer, just before the polls were sent on February 4, in accordance with labor regulations. But it could continue on Staten Island for up to 24 hours before face-to-face voting begins on Friday.
A company spokesman said the meetings give employees the opportunity to ask questions and learn what a union “could mean to them and their day-to-day work at Amazon.”
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