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Biden Urges Workers to 'Make Your Voice Heard' as Amazon Employees Vote on
Union

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden defendedworkers' rights to form unions
   and warned against intimidationof workers in a video posted on Twitter
   on Sunday night, asAmazon.com Inc employees in Alabama vote on whether
   tounionize.

   Biden didn't mention Amazon, but specifically referenced"workers in
   Alabama" in the video and a tweet introducing it. Hesaid every worker
   should have a free and fair choice to join aunion, and no employer
   could take that away. "It's yourright...So make your voice heard," he
   said.

   "Unions lift up workers, both union and non-union, butespecially Black
   and Brown workers," Biden said in the video.

   "There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, noanti-union
   propaganda. No supervisor should confront employeesabout their union
   preferences."

   Amazon, America's second-biggest private employer, has nounionized
   labor in the United States, and workers at itsfulfillment center in
   Bessemer, Alabama, would be the first ifthey vote in favor. Such a
   decision could encourage workersattempting to organize at other Amazon
   facilities.

   A spokeswoman from the Retail, Wholesale & Department StoreUnion
   (RWDSU) said there had been many reports of"various intimidation
   tactics used by Amazon on this campaignand during the voting period."

   Amazon, which has long avoided unionization, did notimmediately respond
   to a request for comment.
   FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020, photo an Amazon worker wears a mask and
   gloves as he delivers boxes downtown Los Angeles.

   The company has trained managers to spot organizingactivity. A website
   advocating Amazon workers shun unions,doitwithoutdues.com, warned the
   Bessemer employees,"whypayalmost $500 in dues? We've got you covered*
   with high wages,health care, vision, and dental benefits."

   The last attempt by Amazon workers to unionize was in 2014.

   A top adviser to Biden and officials from the RWDSUdiscussed the
   union's drive to organize Amazon workers at theBessemer site after the
   inauguration, Reuters reported earlierthis month.

   On Sunday, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum welcomed what hecalled
   Biden's "clear message of support" for the Amazon workersseeking to
   bring the first union to an Amazon warehouse.

   "As President Biden points out, the best way for workingpeople to
   protect themselves and their families is by organizinginto unions. And
   that is why so many working women and men arefighting for a union at
   the Amazon facility in Bessemer,Alabama,"he said in a statement.

   RichardTrumka, head of the AFL-CIO federation of unionsalso hailed
   Biden's tweet: "@POTUS isright: Every workershould have the free and
   fair choice to join a union."

   Biden has vowed to increase union membership in the UnitedStates after
   years of steady declines.

   The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the union membershiprate in the
   private sector was around 6.2% in 2019, compared toaround 20% in 1983.

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