NBC: Amazon workers rally for a union in Alabama

 Local NBC affiliate WVTM 13 reports that workers at the Bessemer, AL Amazon warehouse rallied over the weekend in support of their unionization efforts.

The rally followed a decision earlier in the week by the National Labor Relations Board to allow the vote to go ahead despite Amazon's objections to the vote being conducted via mail in ballots.

Alabama Local: Amazon urges NLRB to halt mail-in union vote

 Echoing calls heard for most of 2020 by Republicans claiming the potential for error or fraud in mail-in elections, Amazon has now turned to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to halt a mail-in union election the Board just approved of last week.

Alabama Local reports that the 6,000 Amazon employees of the Bessemer, AL warehouse are slate to begin receiving ballots February 8th which will then be counted March 30th. Employees cited COVID-19 outbreaks in Alabama when they requested for a mail-in election as the disease has wrecked havoc at Amazon warehouses and similar workplaces across the country; Amazon claims the NLRB has failed to define what a "COVID-19 outbreak" is in its ruling allowing the vote.

If the Bessemer employees vote in favor of unionizing, they will be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and become the first union at the company within the United States, opening up opportunities for organizing at Amazon as well as other notoriously anti-union retail employers.

Guardian: Amazon threatened to fire workers who spoke out on climate

A number of Amazon employees associated with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice told The Guardian that they had been contacted by Amazon's HR department telling them that any future comments made about the companies role in climate change could be grounds for termination.

Employees say they were contacted by HR following a change to the companies external communication policy shortly after Amazon Employees for Climate Justice announced they would be joining the September Global Climate Strike marches.

Amazon denies that the policy change was designed to target any group of workers in particular but employees vocal about issues related to climate and Amazon's connections with big fossil fuel companies believe that they have been targeted specifically, noting a climate of fear that has swept over employees who used to be far more vocal about the issue.