{"id":108258,"date":"2021-03-01T05:45:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T05:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=108258"},"modified":"2021-03-01T05:45:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T05:45:19","slug":"biden-urges-workers-to-make-your-voice-heard-as-amazon-employees-vote-on-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/biden-urges-workers-to-make-your-voice-heard-as-amazon-employees-vote-on-union\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden urges workers to 'make your voice heard' as Amazon employees vote on union"},"content":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden defended workers\u2019 rights to form unions and warned against intimidation of workers in a video posted on Twitter on Sunday night, as Amazon.com Inc employees in Alabama vote on whether to unionize.<\/p> Biden didn\u2019t mention Amazon, but specifically referenced \u201cworkers in Alabama\u201d in the video and a tweet introducing it. He said every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union, and no employer could take that away. \u201cIt\u2019s your right…So make your voice heard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cUnions lift up workers, both union and non-union, but especially Black and Brown workers,\u201d Biden said in the video. \u201cThere should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda. No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazon, America\u2019s second-biggest private employer, has no unionized labor in the United States, and workers at its fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, would be the first if they vote in favor. Such a decision could encourage workers attempting to organize at other Amazon facilities.<\/p>\n A spokeswoman from the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU) said there had been many reports of various \u201cvarious intimidation tactics used by Amazon on this campaign and during the voting period.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazon, which has long avoided unionization, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The company has trained managers to spot organizing activity. A website advocating Amazon workers shun unions, doitwithoutdues.com, warned the Bessemer employees, \u201cwhy pay almost $500 in dues? We\u2019ve got you covered* with high wages, health care, vision, and dental benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n The last attempt by Amazon workers to unionize was in 2014.<\/p>\n A top adviser to Biden and officials from the RWDSU discussed the union\u2019s drive to organize Amazon workers at the Bessemer site after the inauguration, Reuters reported earlier this month.<\/p>\n On Sunday, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum welcomed what he called Biden\u2019s \u201cclear message of support\u201d for the Amazon workers seeking to bring the first union to an Amazon warehouse.<\/p>\n \u201cAs President Biden points out, the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is by organizing into unions. And that is why so many working women and men are fighting for a union at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO federation of unions, also hailed Biden\u2019s tweet: \u201c@POTUS is right: Every worker should have the free and fair choice to join a union.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden has vowed to increase union membership in the United States after years of steady declines.<\/p>\n The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the union membership rate in the private sector was around 6.2% in 2019, compared to around 20% in 1983.<\/p>\n