Amazon.com Inc. employees in Alabama voted that the grass is not always greener, citing job security and skepticism as reasons for turning down the opportunity for unionization.
“I work hard for my money, and I don’t want any of it going to a union that maybe can get us more pay, or maybe can get us longer breaks,” Melissa Charlton Myers, 41, said in a Fox Business story. “It’s not worth the risk.”
The landslide victory for Amazon at its Bessemer warehouse likely will only help the tech giant grow, with analysts saying the nation’s second-largest employer will build on its soaring revenues.
Last year, the increase was 38% to $386 billion, fueled by the effects of the pandemic, and Amazon brought aboard a staggering half-million new employees worldwide.
For the roughly 84% who voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the idea of sticking with a good thing – in this case staying employed – was enough, though some expressed fears of company retaliation if the union effort succeeded.
Workers said they were happy with the hourly rate of pay – nearly double the Alabama minimum wage of $7.25 — and that the union dues could become a concern.
Cori Jennings told Business Insider last month she feared losing free time off and benefits over the course of bargaining.
And Thomas Eady, a former coal miner, said he had been pro-union but his experience in a union has him convinced his work ethic didn’t matter, that unions value seniority over everything and that “they can only act like a middleman” in a termination dispute.
Eady also cited Amazon’s “decent pay and benefits” and Jennings agreed. “I think we make really good money for what we do,” she said.
Add comment