Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama are inching closer to a union vote that, if successful, would mean incredible gains in the fight for workplace safety, dignity, and equitable compensation.
But despite Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) organizers working hard to increase workers’ power, it seems that Amazon isn’t fighting fair.
According to More Perfect Union, workers claim Amazon is “forcing them into anti-union meetings, texting them up to 5x daily, putting messages in bathrooms, even changing traffic light patterns to harm union organizing.”
And the scariest part of all? These distressing power plays are very common amongst corporations who don’t want to be held accountable for how they treat their workers.
But why is Amazon fighting so hard to maintain the status quo?
One word: profits. Despite front line workers being treated like robots, pitifully underpaid, and fearful of COVID-19 exposure, their employer has gained $9.7 BILLION in profits since the start of the pandemic!
And Amazon’s not willing to share it with their predominantly Black frontline workers.
Ultimately, the Bessemer worker’s unionization fight is an example of using your voice to fight for the rights we deserve. Their example shows we CAN organize against the corporate oppression that would force us to work under inhumane conditions for scraps. You in?