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Representatives from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union hold a pro-unionization sign outside Amazon's warehouse in Bessemer, Ala.
Even before Amazon built its warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., local officials called it a game-changer.
The mayor said it was the largest single investment in the 130-year history of the city.
Birmingham's working-class suburb is a shadow of the steel and mining hub it used to be. Amazon jobs, paying more than double the state's minimum wage of $7.25, promised a shot in the arm.
But less than a year after the facility opened, it became a different kind of game-changer: Amazon's first U.S. warehouse to get to a union election. If the union drive wins, it would turn a new page not only for the company, but also the region.