Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com.
If workers at an Amazon.com facility in Bessemer, Ala., vote to unionize, it would boost the number of workers who have opted to join a union in a state that has membership rates below the U.S. average.
But the vote, the counting of which began March 30, is also being closely watched for other reasons -- among them Amazon's position as the second-largest U.S. employer, and the prospect that a "yes" vote would buck a general trend toward dwindling private-sector union membership rates seen since the '60s.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM, INC. | 3,310.80 | +31.41 | +0.96% |
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
Unionization has fallen across a range of industries over the past two decades.
Amazon, which has operations in all 50 states, has roughly 950,000 employees in the U.S., none currently unionized. The company is the second-biggest U.S. employer after Walmart Inc., which it is expected to overtake in the next few years.
Union leaders are joined by community group representatives, elected officials and social activists for a rally in support of unionization efforts by Amazon workers in the state of Alabama on March 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. - (Frederic J. Brown/ AFP via Getty Images)
Amazon says it has created more than 9,000 jobs in Alabama, where it has two delivery stations and five Whole Foods Market supermarkets in addition to its fulfillment and sorting center in Bessemer.
Alabama's unionization rate, currently below 10%, is lower than in the U.S. broadly. But the state's trend has followed a similar general downward line in recent decades.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
There are 5,805 Amazon workers in Bessemer. If they were all to unionize, they would be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which had 18,000 members in the state as of 2020; the new workers would represent an increase of about 32%. Alabama is a right-to-work state, so workers wouldn't be required to join the union.
The union's estimates indicate that most of the workers at the Bessemer site are Black; nationally, about 27% of Amazon's employees are Black. While unionization rates have fallen across racial groups in the U.S. since 2000, Black workers are most likely to be represented by a union, and organizers at the Amazon warehouse have raised themes of racial empowerment during their campaign.
AMAZON CONTESTS HUNDREDS OF BALLOTS AMID UNION VOTE IN ALABAMA: REPORT
Meanwhile, public support for labor unions in the U.S. has risen in recent years. Last year, it reached its highest point since 2003, according to Gallup data, rising from a low point seen during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
Business - Latest - Google News
April 08, 2021 at 07:08PM
https://ift.tt/3fShUDB
What Amazon's Alabama union vote means for the company and workers - Fox Business
Business - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Rx7A4Y
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "What Amazon's Alabama union vote means for the company and workers - Fox Business"
Post a Comment