Biden Backs Amazon Workers' Push to Unionize in Alabama
March 01 2021 - 9:14AM
Dow Jones News
By Ken Thomas
President Biden expressed support for thousands of workers at an
Amazon warehouse in Alabama who are voting in a union election,
calling it a "vitally important choice."
Mr. Biden, in a video posted to his YouTube account Sunday
night, didn't mention Amazon by name but said, "Workers in Alabama,
and all across America, are voting on whether to organize a union
in their workplace" and pointed to his longtime support for union
organizing and the right to collectively bargain.
"Let me be really clear: It's not up to me to decide whether
anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear: It's not
up to an employer to decide that either," Mr. Biden said. "The
choice to join a union is up to the workers -- full stop, full
stop."
Amazon didn't immediately comment on the White House-produced
video.
The video marked the first time Mr. Biden has weighed in on an
internal corporate dispute as president. During his campaign, Mr.
Biden frequently said large corporations such as Amazon should pay
higher taxes.
Mr. Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump,
frequently issued tweets and statements urging changes in corporate
behavior, including to auto makers such as Ford and General Motors,
pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and large tech companies
such as Amazon and Apple.
Mr. Biden, a longtime ally of labor unions, held his first 2020
presidential campaign event at a union hall in Pittsburgh. He has
supported passage of legislation sought by labor organizations to
increase union membership and bolster employee protections.
But his support comes as some union voters have drifted away
from the Democratic Party and as union membership has declined in
recent decades, falling to nearly 11% of the nation's workforce in
2020, according to the Labor Department, compared with its recorded
peak of about 20% in 1983, when the department started reporting
the data.
In the video, Mr. Biden warned that "there should be no
intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no antiunion propaganda. No
supervisor should confront employees about their union
preferences."
The warehouse employees at Amazon's Bessemer, Ala., fulfillment
center are set to decide whether they will become the first group
of U.S. Amazon employees to unionize. Workers backing the
unionization have sought help from the Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union, or RWDSU, an Amazon critic which would
represent the workers if they vote in favor of unionization.
Organizers have said forming a union would let workers
collectively bargain over safety standards, training, breaks, pay
and other benefits. Those issues have been central to disputes
between Amazon and its workforce, with some employees complaining
about their workload and how the company monitors employees through
an internal tracking system and cameras.
Amazon has said it offers some of the best pay and benefits
available for comparable jobs in similar industries, and that the
company provides a competitive compensation package that includes
401(k) and healthcare coverage.
Ballots were mailed out to roughly 6,000 workers in early
February, and employees have until the end of March to return their
votes. The majority of voters would have to support unionizing to
join the union.
Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 01, 2021 08:59 ET (13:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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