Thousands of workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, are voting by mail on whether to unionize. If they do, itâll be a historic moment for both Amazon and the South.
Workers in Bessemer have the opportunity to become the first union at Amazon in the U.S. The company, founded in 1995, has avoided unions â largely through unethical means. Last fall, Amazon was caught advertising job postings for âintelligence analysts,â part of whose duties was to track threats of labor organization and other potential threats from workers against the company.
The potential unionization of Amazon workers in Alabama could also have colossal implications for labor rights in the South. Union membership in the South is about half what it is in the rest of the country â only 5% of Southern workers belong to a union.