- $4 will finish a vote to unionize on Monday.
- Experts say it "may be the most important
union vote in decades." - The warehouse workers could provide a roadmap to unionize at
Amazon and beyond.
On Monday, $4 will have their last day to vote on a union that could forever change the company - and have $4
"It may be the most important union vote in decades," Lynne Vincent, an assistant professor of management at Syracuse University's Whitman School, told Insider. "It represents the conversation in our nation regarding economic and racial disparities that are embedded in our systems and structure and how power is distributed."
Workers had the chance to vote by mail to join the
"This is the richest man in the world against workers," Wilma Liebman, who served on the National Labor Relations Board under Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, said.
Read more: $4
According to experts who spoke with Insider, workers in
"If they are able to win a union for themselves in such a broken system, then I think that is so encouraging to other Amazon warehouse workers, but also workers across other industries and at other retailers," said Celine McNicholas, the director of government affairs at the Economic Policy Institute.
"If we cannot have a system whereby working people are able to trigger some gains for themselves, when they're working in such shameful conditions, then - we've never needed reform more," McNicholas added.
Amazon is following an anti-union playbook that has worked for decades
Workers in Bessemer are in the process of voting to form a union, with the vote scheduled to finish on March 29.
Over the past weeks, $4 from supporting the union. Anti-union strategies range from distributing "Vote No" pins to a texting workers saying "the union can't promise you anything."
$4 in late January, Amazon hired an outside firm to run meetings to discuss unionizing, spreading what some workers felt was a "misleading" anti-union narrative.
A mysterious mailbox appeared outside the warehouse in late February, representing a stark shift from Amazon's previous opposition to workers voting by mail. (Lisa Levandowski, an Amazon representative, said in a statement to Insider that the mailbox was installed for the convenience of employees, noting only "USPS can collect the outgoing mail from this box or put incoming mail into it." The company declined to comment on other anti-union efforts.)
"I think that a lot of people, unfortunately, are scared of them, and they're scared that they could lose their job," Catherine Highsmith, who works at the warehouse, told Insider.
While experts says that Amazon's actions are "aggressive," they also say they follow a familiar anti-union playbook.
Nearly all union drives face fierce opposition from employers. In fact, US employers are charged with violating federal law in a whopping 41.5% of union election campaigns, according to EPI. These aggressive tactics have contributed to the decline of labor union membership in the US, according to McNicholas, $4
Many employers fear that unions will $4 Because the consequences for violating federal labor law are minor, McNicholas said, companies often believe it to be their best interest to do whatever it takes to prevent workers from unionizing.
Take, for example, Walmart. McNicholas notes that a decade ago, $4 The company's anti-union efforts helped bring about mainstream awareness that companies were engaging in more sophisticated campaigns against unionization, helping create a "niche industry" of union avoidance.
"Amazon is just kind of following the course that was charted by Walmart," McNicholas said.
An Amazon warehouse unionizing could have a massive impact
While the Bessemer warehouse accounts for a minuscule percentage of Amazon's 560,000 employees worldwide, the union vote could have a major impact.
A vote in favor of the union would still only be the first step in Amazon workers' union being recognize. But, experts said, it could help show other workers that unionizing is possible at Amazon and beyond. More than 1,000 workers have already reached out to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in recent weeks, exploring unionizing their own workplace, $4
"The conversation regarding economic and racial disparities is growing," Vincent said." This is not just about Amazon, and the effects extend beyond Amazon."
Amazon workers' unionizing efforts have been heavily covered by the media, and drawn support from high-profile figures including President Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.
"Given this momentum and high-power public support, labor union membership could increase even if the Bessemer distribution center does not unionize," Vincent said.
Outside of Bessemer, some Amazon employees are optimistic about what a union could mean for workers.
"They should be allowed to unionize. It's better for everyone," $4
Unionizing, Velasquez said, is "a win-win for the company and employees."