Biden Backs Amazon Workers' Push to Unionize in Alabama

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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 01, 2021 08:59 ET (13:59 GMT)

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