The Amazon union drive in Bessemer, Alabama is a struggle with implications for all of the country as workers around the country are fighting for better working conditions, livable wages, and other pressing issues.<\/p>\n
Voting ends today in this historic effort but workers in Bessemer and around the country have made it clear that this is part of a broader movement that is long overdue.<\/p>\n
“Jennifer Bates was among the group of warehouse workers who initiated the process of forming a union at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. Now, nearly a year later, Jennifer has testified in front of Congress and become one of the faces of the historic Amazon union drive that is currently underway. In the latest installment of our special series \u201cBattleground Bessemer,\u201d TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez sits down with Bates at the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) Mid-South Council headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. Alvarez and Bates discuss the tireless efforts by workers and RWDSU organizers to make the union vote a success, to combat Amazon\u2019s constant union-busting efforts, and to spread the word to workers around the world that it\u2019s time \u201cto stand up and stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n