ALABAMA – Events across the country are planned today, including three in Alabama, as part of a National Day of Solidarity for the effort to form a union at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer.
Mail-in voting is underway for 5,805 workers at the facility, who have seven weeks to decide whether they want the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union to represent them. Workers must return the ballots by March 29. Those pushing for union representation say the company needs accountability on issues like working conditions under COVID-19, overtime and benefits. RWDSU has a membership of up to 18,000 members in Alabama.
The Southern Workers Assembly, a network of labor activists devoted to “unionism with a social justice agenda,” is encouraging folks who support the Amazon union to gather today at the company’s warehouses and distribution centers, Whole Foods locations and more. (Amazon bought the Whole Foods grocery chain in 2017.)
National Day of Solidarity events in Alabama are planned in the following locations, according to the Southern Workers Assembly website:
- Rally at Whole Foods, 1450 Taylor Road, Montgomery, 12 p.m.
- Rally at Whole Foods, 2501 S Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 12 p.m.
- Virtual Block Party streamed on Facebook Live, 4 p.m.-6 p.m, organized by Democratic Socialists of America-Birmingham, Black Lives Matter Birmingham Chapter, Our Revolution-Birmingham, Alabama Working Families Party and SWEET Alabama. “We will play music, dance, and share videos and graphics in support of the Bessemer workers effort to unionize, and secure a living wage and a safe work environment,” the Facebook event page says. “There will also be space for residents and community leaders to state why they stand in solidarity of the workers in Bessemer, Alabama.”
Other events are planned today in nearly 30 states, according to the Southern Workers Assembly website. The list includes Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Texas.
