Amazon Workers Describe Struggle for Historic Union Vote in Alabama

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:

Amazon Workers Describe Struggle for Historic Union Vote in Alabama:

Six thousand warehouse workers in Alabama could soon decide the future of a $1.5 trillion tech giant and its 560,000 employees worldwide.

One of those employees, Darryl Richardson, 51, said he was thrilled to work for Amazon when it opened a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, in March 2020. But within weeks his excitement waned. He said he watched workers get fired after violating social-distancing rules and be slapped with write-ups for taking time from work to use the restroom or get a drink of water, a complaint other Amazon workers have made.

One day last summer he picked up the phone and called the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, or the RWDSU.

"I was just at home one day, and I just felt like I need to make a phone call to see if I can make some changes," Richardson said. The call helped set into motion a historic battle to unionize the 5,800 workers at the warehouse.

A vote to form a union is now well underway among these workers, and it's scheduled to finish on March 29. Chelsea Connor, a spokesperson for the RWDSU, which is backing the union effort, told Insider she expected a result by Easter.

If the workers vote yes, they would form the first Amazon union in the US, something the tech behemoth has been fighting against for years.

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.