U.S. President Joe Biden makes statements before signing an executive order, aimed at addressing the global shortage of semiconductor chips, in the state dining hall of the White House in Washington on February 24, 2021.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Without specifically naming Amazon, President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed support for a supervised union vote at one of Alabama’s retail giant’s warehouses, calling it “vital.”
“Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace,” Biden said in a video shared on his Twitter page. “This is vital, a vital option, as America faces the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis and the calculation of race. What it reveals are the deep disparities that still exist in our country.”
Earlier this month, about 6,000 workers at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, began voting by email to join the retail, wholesale, and department store union, which began the first major union effort in the company since 2014. Last November, workers at the Alabama facility notified the NLRB of their plans to hold a vote on whether they would be represented by the RWDSU.
The ballots were sent to employees on February 8 and must be received at the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board before March 29. The count will begin the next day.
The unionization effort in Alabama has emerged as a protracted labor battle on Amazon, as the company hired the same law firm it used to assist in negotiations during a failed union push in Delaware in 2014. Amazon has also left clear its position on the union campaign. to workers at Bessemer’s facilities, through the holding of mandatory meetings, the creation of a website urging workers to “do so without contributions” and, according to Vice’s recent report, the distribution of brochures which instruct workers to “vote NO” on historic elections.
In addition, Amazon had tried to postpone union elections and pushed for face-to-face elections, which the NLRB denied.
In the video, Biden said it’s up to the “workers, point and end point” to decide if they want to join a union. He also discouraged employers from interfering in union elections.
“There should be no intimidation, coercion, threats or anti-union propaganda,” Biden said. “No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences.
“You know, all workers should have a free and fair choice to join a union … no employer can take it right away. So make your voice heard,” he added.
While on the campaign trail, Biden vowed to be “the most unionized president.” It also made worker empowerment a key principle of their work agenda.
In a statement, Union President Stuart Applebaum thanked Biden for showing his support for the trade union.
“As President Biden points out, the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is by organizing in unions,” Applebaum said in a statement. “And that’s why so many working women and men are fighting for a union at Amazon’s facilities in Bessemer, Alabama.”