Let me be clear: The Amazon union fight is far from over.
For seven weeks, Amazon pulled out all the stops in its most blatant anti-union blitz yet. Workers were forced to attend anti-union meetings, received multiple anti-union texts a day, and were bombarded by anti-union fliers in bathrooms.
The company hired an infamous union-busting law firm for the cool price of $3,200 a day, and even got the county to change the traffic light schedule so that union organizers had less time to talk to workers as they entered or left the warehouse parking lot.
With the deck stacked against organizers, it’s no wonder the union vote didn’t succeed.
The union will challenge the results on the grounds that Amazon’s brazen interference was illegal, which could take weeks if not months to sort out.
The union will challenge the results on the grounds that Amazon’s brazen interference was illegal, which could take weeks if not months to sort out.
Regardless of that outcome, this isn’t the end of the story. @BAmazonUnion may not have won unionization this time around, but the Bessemer workers have made history.
They were the first in the country to even secure a union election at Amazon. They won the PR battle — public support for unions is at its highest in decades, while Amazon’s Twitter spats with Bernie Sanders and intimidation tactics have helped consumers see who Amazon really is.
And, perhaps most consequentially, the Bessemer organizers have inspired working people across the country. Even before the results were in, thousands of Amazon workers nationwide had contacted unions inquiring about how to organize their workplaces.
The Bessemer drive will spark a wave of labor mobilization not just at Amazon, but at other massive corporations like Target and Walmart where essential workers are fed up with being exploited.
And in the political sphere, the election has already spurred more discussion about the need for a wealth tax on billionaires like Jeff Bezos and stricter antitrust enforcement.
The vote has left Amazon vulnerable on many fronts.
The vote has left Amazon vulnerable on many fronts.
For the last half-century, power has shifted to corporate giants and away from working people, spawning a vicious cycle of inequality.
The only way to break the cycle is to build back a powerful labor movement.
Bessemer is just the beginning. Workers are going to win this war.
The only way to break the cycle is to build back a powerful labor movement.
Bessemer is just the beginning. Workers are going to win this war.
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