Update: A majority of workers have voted not to form a union at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Bessemer, Alabama. The result of the NLRB's initial vote count was 1,798 votes against the union and 738 in favor. Hundreds of additional ballots were not counted because their authenticity was disputed. But the "no" side already has a majority of the 3,215 votes cast, making the issue moot.
Original story, April 8: A closely watched effort to unionize an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama appears to be headed for defeat. With about half the votes counted, 1,100 workers have voted against forming a union, while only 463 voted in favor.
The National Labor Relations Board is counting the 3,215 votes that were cast by workers at the Bessemer facility. The union needs to win at least half the votes in order to become the official representative of the roughly 6,000 workers at the Bessemer facility. Counting has ended for the evening and is scheduled to resume at 8:30 am Central Time on Friday.
Also at The Washington Post, c|net, and Al Jazeera.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday April 12 2021, @12:21AM (3 children)
Nahhh, I'll be grateful I've got the skills, certifications, and luck to get hired at a decent-sized hospital, *with a union,* and get to do work I love helping to save lives! :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 12 2021, @01:08AM (2 children)
"Sure, no one's holding a gun to their heads and saying "work here or we'll shoot you." But I think I'd rather be shot than die of poverty."
So then you have no reason to complain about dying of poverty if you don't work for Amazon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 12 2021, @07:30AM (1 child)
I see that this got marked as troll. Maybe I need to spell out the point of that snarky response. The fact that the poster in question doesn't even work for Amazon further highlights the fact that working for Amazon or starving is a false dilemma.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 12 2021, @03:44PM
and I think the point that's missed is that the poster chose what the poster thinks its best for him/her. The poster chose what he/she wanted.
Someone else chose a different job. They voted not to have a union. Who is this poster to tell these other workers what's best for them? Why should this poster impose what he/she thinks is best for someone else on someone else. Maybe those other people are happy not to have a union. Who are you to tell someone else what is in their best interest better than themselves.
I've talked to homeless people and some of them told me they are happy to not have a home. They want to live on the streets. Should we impose our concept of what we believe is best for them onto them? Or should we let them decide.
Same for Amazon workers. Should we decide for them that their own decisions are bad because they are too stupid to make good decisions and so we have to impose what we think is best onto them? Are they pets that want to eat junk food and not go to the vet when they are sick because they don't like shots and we have to make sure that we feed them the right thing and make sure they get their shots? Or do they have brains of their own and they can decide, for themselves, what they think is best for them. What they want out of the agreement between them and Amazon. If they want a union they can make that decision and if they decide no then it's not your position to call them stupid and brainwashed and whatnot. They are capable and intelligent enough to make their own decisions. Stop insulting them.