After Amazon union defeat, labor movement tries to regroup
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In this Tuesday, March 30, 2021 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, File)AP
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By Paul Wiseman and Anne D Innocenzio | The Associated Press
Despite the strongest public support and the most sympathetic president in years, the American labor movement just suffered a stinging defeat again.
Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, overwhelmingly voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in much-anticipated election results announced Friday.
After Amazon: Labor tries to regroup in wake of Alabama loss
PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writers
April 10, 2021
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FILE - In this Tuesday, March 30, 2021 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Amazon workers voted against forming a union, Friday, April 9, in Alabama, handing the online retail giant a decisive victory and cutting off a path that labor activists had hoped would lead to similar efforts throughout the company and beyond.Jay Reeves/AP
WASHINGTON (AP) Despite the strongest public support and the most sympathetic president in years, the American labor movement just suffered a stinging defeat again.
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“The law failed the workers,’’ said Benjamin Sachs, a labor law professor at Harvard Law School. “The law gives employers far too much latitude to interfere in workers’ ability to make a choice to join a union. That choice should be for the workers to make, not the employers to make.”
Amazon supporters note that the company paid an average $15.30 an hour more than double minimum wage in Alabama and offered health care and other benefits. “Union representation is a choice for workers,’’ said David French, spokesman for the National Retail Federation. “But many clearly prefer opportunities in a competitive marketplace that provides strong wages and benefits.’’
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