Biden backs workers' right to collective action as Amazon employees vote on union

No supervisor should confront workers about their union preferences, he suggests

Without mentioning Amazon specifically, US President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed support for workers' right to form unions "in Alabama and all across America" and said that there should be no intimidation of workers.

In a video message posted on Twitter on Sunday, Biden said that every employee should have a fair choice to join a union, and that no employer could be allowed to take that choice from workers.

"Workers in Alabama - and all across America - are voting on whether to organise a union in their workplace. It's a vitally important choice - one that should be made without intimidation or threats by employers," he said in a tweet introducing the video.

"Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union," he added.

In the video, Biden said that there should be no threats, intimidation, coercion or anti-union propaganda from employers, and that no manager should confront workers about their union preferences.

"It's your right... So make your voice heard."

Biden's message on unions comes at the time when around 6,000 Amazon workers at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, are voting to decide whether the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU) should represent them.

The voting by mail is currently ongoing, and the counting is scheduled to take place on 30th March.

This will be Amazon's first unionisation vote in years, and it no secret that Amazon is no fan of organised labour.

The firm has said that there is no reason for its workers to form a union because it pays workers above minimum wage and also offers many other benefits to them.

A spokeswoman from the RWDSU told Reuters that there had been several reports of "various intimidation tactics used by Amazon on this campaign and during the voting period."

The company has reportedly sent text messages to workers at the warehouse, asking them to attend anti-union meetings, despite the company's own social distancing policy. It has allegedly worked with local authorities to get them to speed up traffic light switching outside the plant, so union organisers don't have time to hand out literature to passing workers.

Last month, it also emerged that Amazon was offering $2,000 in 'resignation bonuses' to its workers if they decide to quit the company before the Alabama election.

The retail giant even sought to delay the election, insisting on an in-person vote, although the demand was rejected by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month.

RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum praised Biden's "message of support" for the Amazon employees.

"Thank you, President Biden, for sending a clear message of support for the BAmazon Union workers in Alabama seeking to bring the first union to an Amazon warehouse with the RWDSU," Appelbaum, said.

"As President Biden points out, the best way for working people to protect themselves and their families is by organising into unions. And that is why so many working women and men are fighting for a union at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama," he added.