Bessemer Amazon fulfillment center workers to vote on forming union

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - All eyes are on Alabama, as thousands of Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer will vote to decide whether to unionize.

The fulfillment center’s 5,000 employees will start voting by mail Monday to potentially form the first workers union for Amazon employees in the nation.

Over the weekend, workers stood in solidarity in the cold rain to rally community support for unionization.

Ty West with Birmingham Business Journal said this historic vote-- if it goes through-- could possibly encourage future unionization in Alabama and around the country.

“Some people have asked, ‘If this union vote is approved, is that going to stop them from investing further in Alabama?’ I don’t know how much that’ll be the case with traditional facilities like these, because so much of these are dependent on serving the local market,” said West.

The mail-in ballots went out Monday and votes will be counted on March 30.

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