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Seattle group backs Amazon workers pushing to unionize in Alabama

One organizer with the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America urged Seattleites to stand with Amazon workers in Alabama as they vote on unionization.

SEATTLE — The biggest challenge to Amazon’s workforce model comes 2,500 miles from Seattle.

Union leaders and community organizers in the Northwest are closely watching what will happen in suburban Alabama as a measure to unionize was put up for a vote. Ballots were mailed to some 5,800 workers at a fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama in early February, and results are expected at the end of March.

“If the workers who are in Alabama – who are 85% Black, majority female – are able to form a union in that warehouse, I think it will send shockwaves through the industry, through Amazon and beyond,” said Ty Moore of the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America.

RELATED: President Biden backs Amazon workers' push for union in Alabama

Moore and his organization are among a growing group of Seattle organizations supporting Amazon employees in Bessemer as they push toward unionization.

Saturday was dubbed a “National Day of Solidarity” with rallies scheduled at Amazon facilities across the country. A march was planned at the Seattle headquarters but canceled at the last minute because organizers say they did not want to interfere with a vaccine distribution event happening nearby.

One of those Alabama Amazon employees testified in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. During a Senate budget committee hearing, Jennifer Bates described conditions as grueling.

“My workday feels like a nine-hour intense workout every day. And they track our every move,” said Bates.

Amazon’s taken a strong anti-union stance. They launched the campaign “Do It Without the Dues,” and this week, in a statement to KING 5, the company said it’s “proud to offer employees industry-leading pay…in a safe, modern work environment."

RELATED: As Alabama workers weigh unionization, Amazon says it already offers what unions want

“I think here in Seattle, of course, the headquarters of Amazon, the home of Jeff Bezos, it’s particularly important that working people here – everybody of conscious here – stand up and say, ‘We stand with the workers of Alabama,’” Moore said.

If the unionization effort is successful, it would be a first for workers and mark new ground for the tech giant.

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