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Biden Expresses Support for Amazon Union Vote in Alabama: 'Make Your Voice Heard' (cnbc.com) 203

Without naming Amazon specifically, President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed support for a closely watched union vote at one of the retail giant's Alabama warehouses, calling it "vitally important." From a report: "Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and all across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace," Biden said in a video shared to his Twitter page. "This is vitally important -- a vitally important choice, as America grapples with the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis and the reckoning on race -- what it reveals is the deep disparities that still exist in our country."

Earlier this month, close to 6,000 workers at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, began voting by mail on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, kicking off the first major unionization effort within the company since 2014. Last November, workers at the Alabama facility notified the NLRB of their plans to hold a vote on whether to be represented by the RWDSU. [...] In the video, Biden said it's "up to the workers, full stop" to decide whether they want to join a union. He also discouraged employers from interfering in union elections. "There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda," Biden said. No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences. You know, every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union...no employer can take that right away. So make your voice heard," he added.

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Biden Expresses Support for Amazon Union Vote in Alabama: 'Make Your Voice Heard'

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  • by DeplorableCodeMonkey ( 4828467 ) on Monday March 01, 2021 @09:20AM (#61111038)

    Bezos was all about mail-in ballots for the 2020 election, but did a 180 turn [thefederalist.com] on them for union voting.

    The difference between the 2020 election and this election is who controls the counting and process. It's not the billionaires this time.

    Look, either mail-in voting is safe or it isn't. Now that Bezos stands to be on the losing end because his allies aren't counting the votes, is losing his mind. That should tell you something. He knows that "anonymous ballots + mail-in voting" means you can't easily trace which ballot is legit unless you require people to put their real name on the envelope which partly defeats the claim to "anonymous ballots" by creating a theoretical means of tracing and tracking people's votes.

    • by Halo1 ( 136547 )

      In both this and the federal election case, it was all about excluding people whom you fear would mostly vote against your desired outcome. The safety argument is just a red herring because you can't openly argue for your real reason. You can do so when think you're talking only to your supporters though: https://youtu.be/rHFOwlMCdto?t... [youtu.be] (that one is about voter ID, but it's the same story).

    • by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      He's probably more worried that mail-in makes it easier to vote and if more people vote, they're more likely to vote for unionization. I doubt election security comes in to the picture at all

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      You don't need a conspiracy theory to explain this. Bezos is a hypocrite, he likes mail in when it gets the result he wants and opposes it when it doesn't.

  • by Poison.Pill ( 5839708 ) on Monday March 01, 2021 @10:18AM (#61111300)
    I'm of the (likely minority) opinion that all companies should interfere with elections on whether to unionize or not: Companies should make the employees' jobs and work environment as desirable as possible in order to dissuade the forming of a union. Make your place so great that no one will want or even need a union. I mean, if my job pays very well, rewards me for hard work, and generally treats me in a respectable way, why on earth would I want to pay a union money out of my paycheck? Hell, I'll be telling everyone I know to work for there.

    On the other hand, if you treat me and my fellow employees with disrespect, pay as little as possible, and generally make my workplace miserable, I'm going to either look for another job or try to form a union. Fortunately, I'm in a career where my skills are (currently) in high demand.

    I get that there are a great deal of jobs and locations where you don't have an option for other jobs without moving. And I know life gets in the way of moving: try caring for an aging parent while trying to find a job in another city. It isn't easy and often isn't even doable. I just wish more companies would make their workplaces and jobs far more desirable and not do the "bare minimum".
  • Instead of selling a 15 dollar min wage (which is a joke) how about enacting cost of living raises into law? the equality concept seems to have died, and now its about equity right? so if thats the case, shouldnt EVERYONE be entitled to a raise of XX percent? Imagine being the guy who just finished college and is making 18 bucks an hour instead of 12. now everyone gets 15 an hour. what about the guy making 18? does he get a raise? he put in the time and effort he should.
    • Instead of selling a 15 dollar min wage (which is a joke)

      You keep saying it's a joke without any justification. Your argument is the joke; you don't have one.

      Imagine being the guy who just finished college and is making 18 bucks an hour instead of 12. now everyone gets 15 an hour. what about the guy making 18? does he get a raise? he put in the time and effort he should.

      He should, but he's not the person we need to help right now. The people we need to help most and soonest are the people whose basic needs aren't being met.

      If you want to help him as well, that's great. But if you don't want to help the people who need help the most because it's not fair to him, then you're just coming up with excuses as to why it's okay to fuck people over.

      • so in other words, fuck the people who tried, and reward those who dont????
        • fuck the people who tried, and reward those who dont????

          No, in other words, stop the bleeding before you worry about the sniffles. But if you have a viable plan that solves both problems at once, we'd love to hear about it. At least, I know I would.

      • i have missed you mr poo, that is for sure lol
    • by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      It's the same as it is now - if a business pays their more experienced employees minimum wage, they're probably going to look for a new job so if they want to keep them they'll have to give them a raise.

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