Amazon workers speak on the Alabama union vote
Amazon workers in Alabama and across the United States are speaking out about the ongoing union certification vote at the Bessemer, Alabama facility. Nearly 6,000 workers are voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), with ballots due on March 29.
Amazon is notorious for its exploitation of workers around the world, including half a million in the US. This is underscored by the tragic suicide of 48-year-old Paul Vilseck, who jumped to his death at the LAS7 fulfilment center in North Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday.
Inside an Amazon warehouse (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Bessemer homicide victim identified as investigation continues By WBRC Staff | March 4, 2021 at 8:09 AM CST - Updated March 4 at 10:39 AM
BESSEMER, Ala. (WBRC) - Police in Bessemer are looking for who shot and killed a 27-year-old man on March 3.
The shooting happened in the 1100 block of Clarendon Avenue. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office pronounced the victim dead on the scene at 11:18 p.m., but it’s believed the shooting happened “a couple hours” earlier.
The victim has been identified as Shaquille Oneil Steel.
Bessemer police say the victim was shot while sitting in his parked car in the parking lot of Cloverdale Apartments.
(Bloomberg) On a rainy Saturday afternoon in early February, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union held a rally in a grassy lot a five-minute drive from Amazon.com Inc.’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. Organizers handed out pizzas supplied by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a long-time Amazon critic. Members of the Teamsters had traveled to Bessemer to lend their support, some from as far away as Boston. Workers and activists brandished signs with such slogans as “Don’t Back Down” and “Our Community Supports Amazon Workers.”Inclement weather aside, the event seemed to have all the ingredients needed to fire up workers keen to take on Amazon. Yet the crowd that day numbered about 50, including activists, out-of-towners and media, and many of Bernie’s pizzas were uneaten when the rally ended about an hour later.The campaign in Bessemer has drawn national attention and is widely considered a once-in-a-generation opportun