The final tally isn’t in yet, but as of late Thursday night, Amazon workers in Bessemer, Ala., are voting by a 2-1 margin against joining a union.
More than 3,200 votes were sent in and with about half the ballots counted, 1,100 warehouse workers had rejected the union while 463 voted in favor of it. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, which is organizing the Amazon workers in Bessemer, claim that there was a 55 percent turnout of workers. Amazon employs more than 950,000 workers in the United States.
NBC San Diego:
More than 3,200 votes were sent in and with about half the ballots counted, 1,100 warehouse workers had rejected the union while 463 voted in favor of it. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, which is organizing the Amazon workers in Bessemer, claim that there was a 55 percent turnout of workers. Amazon employs more than 950,000 workers in the United States.
NBC San Diego:
Labor experts and union leaders believe, however, that Bessemer could still inspire other Amazon workers to try to unionize at the company’s hundreds of facilities across the country. And it could spread beyond the company, spurring action at Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, and other big retailers.
Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the retail union, struck a grim tone in a statement Thursday night as the initial results rolled in, signaling that the union will put up a legal fight if the vote doesn’t go its way.