Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama have begun voting on whether to form the first American union at the e-commerce giant, an effort that could pave the way for further unionisation in the United States at one of the world’s most powerful companies.
Amazon is the second-largest employer in the US with an 800,000-strong workforce, most of whom are “essential workers” who cannot do their jobs from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
There have been a series of protests around the United States on safety and working conditions at Amazon, with the pandemic increasing pressure on its distribution network even as profits soar.
Employees at its BHM1 facility in Bessemer, Alabama, notified authorities of their plan to unionise in November.