Amazon wins Alabama labor battle

BESSEMER, Ala. — A big win for Amazon, and a big loss for labor, in the most closely watched union organizing fight in the country.

Amazon workers in Alabama have soundly rejected becoming members of a union.

Organizing for a union began last summer at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama.

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Union leaders sent support from Amazon’s hometown of Seattle.

“If we can’t get equity and job security for people in Alabama, we’re not going to be able to get it anywhere,” said Nicole Grant, executive secretary of the King County Labor Council.

But when the numbers came in Friday morning, they showed 1,798 workers had voted against organizing a union while only 738 had voted in favor.

“I am not discouraged. I’m happy. I’m proud. Because like I said, this is the beginning,” said Linda Burns, an employee at the Amazon facility in Alabama.

The workers also had the public support of President Biden and newly confirmed U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who spoke with KIRO-7 today.

“It’s disappointing when you think about for the labor movement today. You know, the votes happen every day in America to unionize and not to unionize. And this one is just such a high profile one.”

Organizers accused the company of union-busting tactics.

“One of the poorest counties in the country took on the richest man in the world, and it was so much bravery for those workers to stand up and do that,” said Grant.

But in a statement, Amazon said: “It’s easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that’s not true.

“Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and media outlets than they heard from us.

“Amazon didn’t win -- Our employees made the choice to vote against joining a union.”

Secretary Walsh says President Biden’s infrastructure plan contains the Protecting the Right to Organize Act to make organizing unions easier.

“It gives people the rights to collective bargaining… and to talk to workers about the importance of unionizing and keeping the intimidation tactics out of the workplace.”

Secretary Walsh also spoke of the need to pass Biden’s infrastructure plan, not only to create jobs fixing roads and bridges, but to give raises to workers in childcare and eldercare.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos generally supports the plan, including an increase in the corporate income tax.

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