Bessemer, AL – Voting formally began Monday, February 8 for Amazon workers at a large distribution center in Bessemer, Alabama. They are voting on whether or not to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Ballots are being mailed to workers and voting will continue through March 29.

Amazon’s attempts at union busting included trying to stop the mail vote from happening by filing objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) insisting on an in-person vote to take place at the worksite instead of the mail-in vote that was scheduled. Attempts to make voting harder are a common practice used by professional union busters who frequently refer to themselves by names like “union avoidance attorneys” or “consultants.” These attempts at making voting more restrictive are often used when an employer believes that a vote is likely to go through, so making it more difficult improves their chances of stopping the workers from joining the union.

The NLRB threw out Amazon’s objection and ruled that the vote would continue as planned. Ballots should start hitting mailboxes in the coming days and the vote count, overseen by the NLRB, is set to begin on March 30. Joining the union at the Amazon facility in Alabama would be the first time Amazon employees successfully joined a union in the United States.

Amazon has come out clearly against their employees wish to join the union and has argued that the latest union effort lacked support from a majority in Bessemer, while also noting that it offers above-average wages and benefits. These arguments are typical ones used by professional union busters to thwart attempts by workers to join unions. The reality is that what percent of workers support joining a union is not information that is made public to the employer, and in most cases the number of union cards submitted dramatically underrepresents the amount who support the idea, because it is often not possible for the supporters to reach everyone to ask them to sign a card, meaning many supporters are never able to sign before the vote. All that is known for sure, is that at least 30% of the workers submitted cards to the NLRB requesting membership in the union, meaning the threshold was met to trigger a legally binding vote.

The attempt to join the union comes amid a series of protests around the United States over safety and working conditions at Amazon and at the same time as the coronavirus pandemic has increased workload and pressure on those employees.

In dismissing the objection to the voting process, the NLRB said that there were no substantial issues in need of review and that the safety of all involved with the voting “is best served, at this time, by avoiding the type of in-person gatherings that a manual election entails.”

Amazon is the second largest employer in the United States with more than 800,000 employees, most of who are “essential workers” who must work in person. The Bessemer location employs more than 5800 workers. If this vote is successful this would be a significant win for unions in the South and at Amazon.

#BessemerAL #union #Vote #Amazon #Alabama #Bezos

New York, NY – New Yorkers across the state face a vote on Nov. 7 on whether or not to have a Constitutional Convention, a process which occurs every 20 years. The last time a vote occurred for a so-called “Con Con” was in 1997. In the current political climate, unions and workers fear that all protections that were won in past Constitutional Conventions, most of which were gained during the New Deal, could be peeled away due to the intervention of lobbyists and financing from corporate influences.

One of the main concerns of bad amendments that could harm workers would be the possibility of New York becoming a ‘Right to Work’ state. Unions so far have aggressively promoted a no vote on the convention, since they do not have the monetary resources to outspend the corporate interests that no doubt would seek to stack the deck of delegates with their minions. Others see the convention as an opportunity for progressive gains to be made in a sweeping way, seeing the political structure of Albany as entirely too corrupt for change to be made.

The convention should be opposed for the simple reason that sweeping progressive change is unlikely. All that can be won must be won in the streets, through organized fight backs and contract fights. The last convention in 1997 came off the heels of a huge victory by the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters against United Parcel Service, which was led by New Yorker Ron Carey, who was standing president of the IBT at the time.

With so many important struggles for labor on the horizon (such as new contract negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS net year), leaving the door open for the bosses to undo decades of victories for workers at a constitutional convention – or worse still, weakening the position of unions by using resources to ensure a maintaining of present standards – rather than toward the needed organizing of struggles for better contracts and protections would be a misstep. A convention effort would waste the opportunity presented to unions to win all that can be won for the working class in the various shop floors, and for the attention of workers in taking charge of these fightbacks.

#NewYorkNewYork #PeoplesStruggles #Teamsters #Vote

The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) which represents more than 92 million workers in 126 countries of the whole world, strongly condemns the events that took place today in Catalonia, where the Spanish state’s repressive forces injured, assaulted and arrested many civilians in Catalonia who wanted to express freely and democratically their opinions.

The world class-oriented trade union movement affiliated to the big class-oriented WFTU family denounces the authoritarian practices and the terrorism of Rajoy’s government against its own people. The WFTU, faithful to its founding principles supports all peoples’ right to decide freely on their present and future.

The Secretariat

#Spain #Europe #PoliticalRepression #PoliceRepression #Catalonia #Vote