Amazon Workers In Alabama Are Worried A Union Victory Could Make Their Lives Worse
In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait said, “It’s our employees’ choice whether or not to join a union. It always has been.”
But RWDSU president Stuart Applebaum said the disparity between public support and union membership stems from the weak state of labor laws in the United States. “Workers have said over and over and over again that, if they had a choice, they would want a union in their workplace,” he told BuzzFeed News. “If it were not for the intimidation and interference, more people would be union members today.”
Tensions have been rising inside the Bessemer Amazon warehouse as the deadline for ballots, March 25, draws closer. Employees said they’ve seen verbal altercations between pro- and anti-union workers at Amazon’s mandatory meetings; two people told BuzzFeed News they were aware of a physical fight that took place near the main entrance to the warehouse where worker organizers pass out T-shirts.
In messages to workers, Amazon has accused the union of overly aggressive tactics. “We wanted to let you know that we received reports regarding activity that occurred in front of the building tonight,” a mass text message sent to workers in February read. “Some of you told us that the organizers yelled at you and made offensive comments if you refused to accept their T-shirts and made you feel unsafe. We are sorry that RWDSU has subjected you to this behavior on your way to work. Ask yourself whether these are the type of people you want representing you. Show the union you don’t want this…Vote No!”
Terri Addington, an Amazon worker who voted against unionizing, agreed with the company’s criticism. “The union has called over 40 times. I’ve talked to them once [on] the phone and once in person at my house,” she said. “They don’t know when to stop.”
Employee and organizer Perry Connelly said he saw it differently: of all the doors he’s knocked on, no worker has ever asked him to leave. If anything, he said, the workers who oppose the union tend to be more aggressive. “I was out there when all this happened,” he said, referring to Amazon’s text message. “It was the people that was coming in that was yelling at us. They started chanting, ‘Vote no! Vote no! Vote no!’.”
Applebaum, the union president, said fanning the flames at work is part of Amazon’s playbook. “They want to make us look like bullies to hide the fact that they’re doing everything they can to prevent workers from having a collective voice,” he said.
Amazon said it investigates all allegations of conflicts at the warehouse. “No employee should feel threatened when coming to work,” Agrait said.
Shannon Villa, another Amazon employee, said he respects what the union organizers are trying to do but still plans to vote no. When Villa moved to the new Amazon facility in Bessemer from a management-track job at Walmart two years ago, his pay shot up to $18.30 an hour, or about “four dollars more than what [he] made at Walmart,” he said. He worries that if workers vote to bring in the union, it could put the benefits Amazon offers, like short-term disability insurance, at risk. “I don’t want to give up those free little things I didn’t have at Walmart,” he said.
One of the benefits Villa especially enjoys is life insurance. When his mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few years ago, she made sure Villa had the funds to cover her funeral expenses before she died. “She set me up to where I wouldn’t be in debt, and I was grateful for it,” he said. Villa said he hopes Amazon’s insurance policy will provide the same peace of mind to his wife and three kids should anything happen to him.
“If I die, they’ll get $10,000, and that’s enough to cover my funeral costs,” he said. “I know my family would be okay if something happened to me. It’s one less thing they have to worry about. I’m setting up a future for them.”
Employers aren’t legally allowed to threaten existing benefits or wages during a union election, and if the union won, workers’ compensation would remain unchanged until a collective bargaining contract was approved. But some Amazon employees remain convinced that a union victory could lead to worsening job conditions. Others are concerned about the cost of union dues, $9.25 per week, even though Alabama law doesn’t require union workers to pay dues if they don’t want to.
OV Garner II earned $12.50 an hour at his last job but makes $16.65 an hour if he works the night shift at Amazon. Garner recently became eligible for a promotion, which he said he expects to receive the next time a position opens. One of the reasons he’s voting against the union is because he believes “it’s well known that unions promote based off of seniority.”
“Amazon has great benefits, the pay is good, and I like the opportunity to be able to get promoted based off of my work,” he said.
In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait said, “It’s our employees’ choice whether or not to join a union. It always has been.” But RWDSU president Stuart Applebaum said the disparity between public support and union membership stems from the weak state of labor laws in the United States. “Workers…
