A week ago, we broke the story that union organizers in Alabama accused Amazon of working to change traffic light patterns outside its Bessemer warehouse in order to hinder their efforts to talk to workers.
We have pursued that story, and tonight we have breaking news.
NEWS: A Jefferson County public official has confirmed that Amazon asked for the traffic light patterns to be altered outside its Alabama warehouse.
The county Roads & Transportation Department told us they were “notified by Amazon of traffic delays” during shift changes late last year.
After an inspection, the county increased “maximum green times” at the intersection to “clear more vehicles per phase” on December 15.
The city of Bessemer had previously tweeted a statement alleging that the union organizers' claim was false. It is not. In fact, the city does not control the traffic lights outside the warehouse. The county does.
We asked Amazon for a response. A spokesperson had disregarded the union organizers’ claims as a “rumor.” But now we know the truth—that Amazon REQUESTED the change.
We’ll continue to bring accountability to Amazon. Follow us for more updates.
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NEW: Amazon workers are exposing what's happening in Alabama.
They say Amazon is forcing them into anti-union meetings, texting them up to 5x daily, putting messages in bathrooms, even changing traffic light patterns to harm union organizing.
These workers organizing for better job conditions, mostly Black, are in Bessemer, AL.
Median income is $31,610.
Amazon earned $125,560,000,000 last quarter alone.
Jeff Bezos is using that wealth to run a disinformation campaign to terrify his own workers.
These are screenshots of anti-union texts that Amazon sends workers daily.
They say unions are trying to 'take your money!'
'Don't let outsiders divide our winning team!'
Warehouse workers we spoke with say people feel confused, afraid, intimidated.
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon. Let’s take a moment to recognize the legacy he’s leaving behind—a legacy of union busting, historic inequality, and horrific working conditions.
Amazon has raked in more than $14B in profit during the pandemic—$5.8B more than last year. Their workers pay the price.
Over 20,000 Amazon workers have tested positive for COVID-19. The Alabama warehouse had one of the company’s highest positivity rates in the country.
Amazon could have quadrupled the extra COVID-19 compensation they gave to workers, and still made more profit than last year. But workers haven’t seen hazard pay since June.