A Black women-led group of Amazon warehouse workers is championing for the rights of hundreds of thousands of Amazon laborers. The group is advocating for the development of the first Amazon union in the United States. Voting by mail will begin this month and continue until the end of march

In an effort to dishearten employee efforts to unionize, Amazon has taken to intimidation tactics to dismiss the energies and efforts of advocates. One such underhanded motion was the placing of anti-union messages within bathroom stalls: “Where will your dues go?”  An anonymous pro-union Amazon worker shared through the Washington Post that “I feel like I’m getting harassed.”

Voting for the union will begin on February 8th and is set in Bessemer, Alabama. Some 6,000 workers will participate in the union vote, the company’s first in over 6 years.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed his intention to step down from his position. He will be replaced by Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services, in the third quarter of 2021. Instead, Bezos will transition to the role of executive chairman within Amazon to focus on “new products and early initiatives.”