Tag: Alabama

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Health

Covid vaccinations greater than double in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama

Covid vaccinations more than double in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama

A man will be vaccinated against COVID-19 at a vaccination festival in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on May 28, 2021.

Lan Wei | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

More and more people who were once hesitant in several southern states are now getting their first vaccinations as the Delta-Covid variant is tearing through areas of the United States with low vaccination rates.

Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama have more than doubled the seven-day average of daily first-doses reported since early July, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, as the outbreak worsened nationwide.

Over the same period, the average daily caseload increased from about 13,000 per day across the country to about 94,000 per day on Aug. 4, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, with the overwhelming majority of new infections below those who are unvaccinated .

“Americans are clearly seeing the effects of not being vaccinated and unprotected, and they are responding by doing their part, rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated,” White House Covid Tsar Jeff Zients said Thursday to reporters.

In Arkansas, which has the third worst outbreak in the country, based on new cases per capita every day, vaccinations nearly tripled. On July 1, the state administered a seven-day average of 2,893 first doses in the arms, which, according to a CNBC analysis of CDC data, represented new people receiving their first shots. By August 4, that number had increased to a seven-day average of 8,585 first doses per day.

Mississippi, which saw the fourth worst outbreak in the country, saw its first doses given since early July increased 178% through August 4. Louisiana saw a 128% increase and Alabama, which hosted the fifth worst outbreak nationwide, saw a 109% increase.

Louisiana is experiencing the worst per capita outbreak of new Covid cases in the country, recording hospital admissions after the Delta variant targeted the state’s mostly unvaccinated population.

The state governor has reintroduced a mask mandate until at least September 1 to slow down the transmission. Despite the recent surge in vaccinations, Louisiana still ranks fifth in the country for fully vaccinated residents at 37.2%.

“The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Louisiana is not where we need it and that, when combined with the Delta variant, has resulted in the perfect storm we’re seeing right now,” said Mindy Faciane, Public Information Officer at the Department of Health Louisiana across from CNBC.

Behind Louisiana is Arkansas with 37% of the fully vaccinated population, Wyoming with 36.7%, Mississippi with 34.8% and Alabama with 34.6%, according to CDC data.

Covid cases with serious consequences are also increasing, according to US officials. The seven-day average of daily hospital admissions is up 41% from a week, with the average daily death toll up 39%, said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Thursday.

Studies have shown that the Delta variant is much more transmissible than the original Covid strain and, unlike the original, requires two doses of vaccine so that the body has a chance to fight against infection and severe symptoms.

“Even if someone decided to get the vaccine today, it will be some time before their body and immune system are able to cope with it,” said Gigi Gronvall, immunologist and senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety. said CNBC. “You want to make sure you aren’t exposed before your body has a chance to turn the virus off.”

Still, residents in severely affected states who start vaccinating will help slow the spread of the virus sooner rather than later and could prevent future hospitalizations and deaths.

“People are seeing how this is affecting their communities and they are actively changing their minds to get the vaccine,” Faciane said. “Our vaccination rate is going through the roof right now.”

Patients of different ages hospitalized with Covid in states like Missouri, Florida, Arkansas, and Louisiana regret having refused the vaccination initially and are asking their communities to get vaccinated.

Overall, the US reported an average of about 677,000 daily vaccinations last week (as of August 4), up 11% from a week.

The number of first vaccine doses increases faster than the overall rate. According to the CDC, an average of about 446,000 first doses were given daily for the past seven days, 17% more than the week before.

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Health

Florida, Alabama not reporting every day Covid case and dying information

Florida, Alabama no longer reporting daily Covid case and death data

Florida and Alabama will no longer report daily Covid cases and deaths as vaccinations rise and states begin moving into the “next phase” of the pandemic.

Florida rolled out a weekly Covid data reporting plan on Friday, the state emergency management department said on its website.

“Florida is moving into the next phase of the COVID-19 response,” the Florida Department of Health wrote in a statement emailed Monday. “As vaccinations go up and the positivity rate of new cases declines, the Florida Department of Health has put in place a weekly reporting schedule.”

Alabama introduced a new schedule on Monday in which the state updates case and death dates three times a week and vaccination dates twice a week.

“In addition to decreasing COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) will update its dashboard less frequently,” wrote Dr. Karen Landers, an Alabama health officer, in a news release on Friday.

The changes signal a shift in attitudes towards the pandemic, as the U.S. averaged around 16,000 new infections per day over the past week, a low number that has not been seen since the early days of the outbreak.

Florida reported an average of eight new cases per 100,000 residents last week and Alabama reported about 8.5 cases, well below their pandemic highs of 84 and 87 per 100,000, respectively, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Still, public health experts warn that relaxing data reporting guidelines could be risky as the nature of the outbreak has changed rapidly in various places over the past year.

“I think we have to learn from this pandemic that you can’t just imagine that there will be no change,” said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University, noted that infection rates were high in her hometown of New York were low last summer before skyrocketing again in winter.

“If you start to see a trend, even after a week, you can fly a red flag and be vigilant,” she added. “I think it’s a little premature to let our vigilance down.”

Of course, the last great wave of Covid infections in the US started over the winter before vaccines were available. In Alabama, however, only 36% of residents have had at least one injection, one of the lowest rates in the country, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. At 50%, the numbers in Florida are closer to the statewide rate of 52% of the population who are at least partially vaccinated, but still lagging behind.

Dr. Joseph Kanter, the chief medical officer in Louisiana, said his state started reporting Covid data five days a week about a month ago but has no plans to make any changes beyond that.

“I think the daily updates, at least Monday through Friday, are still relevant and helpful in informing the public,” he said.

“We’re still a long way from the woods,” added Kanter, despite encouraging trends in cases, hospitalizations and death rates. “We’re really fine, but the general feeling is that the health department is still out of the woods and I’m aware that I’m sending the wrong idea.”

Reporting on Covid data can be resource-intensive, and many state governments have struggled to build or upgrade technology systems that could handle the unprecedented demands last spring. The data is also “maintenance-intensive,” according to Kanter, who stated that his department, for example, needs to deduplicate multiple positive tests for a person in a recorded case in order to keep accurate records.

“It’s a long time, a big manpower investment, but we are still in a public health emergency,” he said.

Many states have ditched daily reporting over the course of the pandemic, with nearly 20 reporting dates five days a week, according to a list maintained by Johns Hopkins. However, Florida is the only state that currently reports both case and death data once a week, and according to Johns Hopkins, only Kansas and Alabama report three days a week.

The Alabama Department of Health was unable to be reached for comment.

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Business

Amazon is accused of corrupting the union voting course of at an Alabama warehouse.

Amazon is accused of corrupting the union voting process at an Alabama warehouse.

The union, sensibly defeated in its efforts to organize an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, is attempting to dismiss the election results and accusing the company of corrupting the voting process by intimidating and monitoring workers.

On Monday, the retail, wholesale and department store union appealed to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the voting process via email last month.

The union lost its offer to organize the camp at a ratio of more than 2 to 1. Many workers said the union had not convinced them of the benefits of the organization and that they were largely satisfied with Amazon’s wages, benefits and working conditions.

In a statement on Monday, Amazon said: “Instead of accepting the choice of these employees, the union seems determined to continue to misrepresent the facts in order to advance its own agenda. We look forward to the next steps in the legal process. “

At the center of the union’s complaint is a mailbox that Amazon installed in the warehouse parking lot, where workers can cast their ballot papers. The union said Amazon brought the collection box without permission from the labor authority. The company also used video cameras to monitor workers who cast their ballots there and encouraged them to toss the ballots in the box instead of mailing them from home, the union said.

The union said these actions by Amazon “created the impression that the collection box was a polling station and that the employer had control over the conduct of postal votes”.

The union also accused Amazon of other tactics that may have intimidated the workers, such as hiring local police to patrol the parking lot while the organizers were outside and possibly pulling union-friendly workers out of the “captured audience” meetings that did the Company had held to raise the issue of organizing the ride among employees.

The company “would require the employee to come forward, identify them and then remove them from the meeting in the presence of hundreds of other employees, thereby compromising and / or chilling the employees’ right to freely discuss issues related to the union organizing campaign will, ” said the union in its filing with the labor authority.

The union has asked the Labor Authority to hold a hearing on their petition in order to overturn the results. If the union succeeds in its legal challenges, the labor authority could order another election to be held.

Categories
World News

How Amazon fought the union drive in Alabama

How Amazon fought the union drive in Alabama

Die Menschen protestieren am 22. März 2021 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien, um die gewerkschaftlichen Bemühungen der Arbeiter im Amazonasgebiet von Alabama zu unterstützen.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

Amazon hat letzte Woche eine Gewerkschaftsaktion in einem seiner Lagerhäuser in Alabama besiegt, ein großer Gewinn für den E-Commerce-Riesen, der seit langem gegen Gewerkschaftsversuche in seinen Einrichtungen gekämpft hat.

Die Arbeiter im Lagerhaus in Bessemer, Alabama, stimmten mit überwältigender Mehrheit für die Ablehnung der Gewerkschaftsbildung, wobei weniger als 30% der Stimmen dafür stimmten. Die Gewerkschaft für Einzelhandel, Großhandel und Kaufhäuser, die die Gewerkschaftsaktion leitete, beabsichtigt, das Ergebnis in Frage zu stellen, und argumentiert, dass Amazon vor und während der Abstimmung mit einigen seiner gewerkschaftsfeindlichen Aktivitäten gegen das Gesetz verstoßen habe.

Das Ergebnis ist ein Rückschlag für die organisierte Arbeit, die gehofft hatte, dass die Bessemer-Wahl dazu beitragen würde, bei Amazon Fuß zu fassen. Gewerkschaften, Arbeitnehmervertreter und einige Mitarbeiter des Bessemer-Werks, bekannt als BHM1, sind jedoch der Ansicht, dass die Bessemer-Wahlen weitere Organisationsversuche in anderen Lagern im ganzen Land ankurbeln werden. Die Gewerkschaftsführer sagten, die Wahlen in Bessemer hätten der Öffentlichkeit auch gezeigt, wie weit die Arbeitgeber gehen werden, um Gewerkschaften zu verhindern.

Nach Angaben mehrerer Arbeitnehmer und Gewerkschaftsvertreter, die die Taktik beschrieben haben, hat Amazon bei BHM1 eine aggressive PR-Kampagne gestartet, die Textnachrichten an Mitarbeiter, Broschüren, eine Website, auf der die Arbeitnehmer aufgefordert wurden, “ohne Gebühren zu arbeiten”, und Flugblätter, die in Badezimmern veröffentlicht wurden und die die Arbeitnehmer aufforderten zu “NEIN stimmen.”

Amazon verschickte Textnachrichten und Mailer, in denen die Mitarbeiter in seiner Einrichtung in Bessemer, Alabama, aufgefordert wurden, “NEIN zu stimmen”.

Die größte Gelegenheit für Amazon, die Arbeitnehmer zu beeinflussen, bestand in Form von so genannten Captive-Audience-Meetings, an denen die Arbeitnehmer während ihrer Schicht teilnehmen mussten. Amazon hielt die Treffen wöchentlich von Ende Januar bis zum Versand der Stimmzettel Anfang Februar ab. Die Mitarbeiter saßen ungefähr 30 Minuten lang in PowerPoint-Präsentationen, um die Gewerkschaftsbildung zu entmutigen, und erhielten die Gelegenheit, Fragen von Vertretern von Amazon zu stellen.

Gefangene Publikumsversammlungen sind eine gängige Taktik, die Arbeitgeber bei Gewerkschaftskampagnen anwenden. Befürworter vorgeschlagener arbeitsrechtlicher Reformen wie des Gesetzes zum Schutz des Organisationsrechts, das im Senat verabschiedet werden soll, haben argumentiert, dass Treffen in Gefangenschaft als Forum für Arbeitgeber dienen, um gewerkschaftsfeindliche Botschaften zu übermitteln, “ohne der Gewerkschaft die Möglichkeit dazu zu geben.” reagieren.” Das PRO-Gesetz würde es Arbeitgebern verbieten, diese Treffen obligatorisch zu machen.

Amazon sagte, es habe laufende Treffen in kleinen Gruppen veranstaltet, um den Mitarbeitern die Möglichkeit zu geben, alle Fakten über den Beitritt zu einer Gewerkschaft und über den Wahlprozess selbst zu erfahren.

Das Unternehmen verteidigte auch seine Reaktion auf die Gewerkschaftskampagne im weiteren Sinne und argumentierte in einer Erklärung nach dem Ergebnis, dass die Arbeitnehmer “weitaus mehr Anti-Amazon-Botschaften von Gewerkschaften, politischen Entscheidungsträgern und Medien gehört haben, als sie von uns gehört haben”.

Warum einige mit “Nein” gestimmt haben

Die Nachrichten von Amazon in den Meetings waren für einige BHM1-Mitarbeiter überzeugender als für andere.

Ein Mitarbeiter von Bessemer, der letztes Jahr bei Amazon angefangen hatte, sagte, er habe das Gefühl, Amazon habe bei Gesprächen mit Arbeitnehmern über die Gewerkschaft einige Schreckensstrategien angewandt, sagte aber auch gegenüber CNBC, er verstehe nicht, wie die Gewerkschaft den Arbeitnehmern bei BHM1 helfen würde. Diese Person, die um Anonymität bat, um Vergeltungsmaßnahmen zu verhindern, sagte, die RWDSU habe nicht erklärt, was sie für die Arbeitnehmer tun würden, und nicht auf ihre Anfrage nach Informationen darüber geantwortet, wie sie Mitarbeitern auf anderen Baustellen geholfen hätten.

Abgesehen von seinen Zweifeln an der RWDSU sagte dieser Mitarbeiter, er habe auch in erster Linie positive Erfahrungen bei Amazon gemacht. Während sich einige Arbeiter über den stressigen und anspruchsvollen Charakter der Arbeit beschwerten, sagte er, ein früherer Baujob habe ihn auf die körperliche Arbeit der Lagerarbeit vorbereitet, so dass er es leicht finde. Die Bezahlung und die Vorteile von Amazon sind auch eine Verbesserung gegenüber seinem vorherigen Job.

Am Ende stimmte dieser Arbeiter gegen die Gewerkschaftsbildung.

In privaten Facebook-Gruppen, in denen Amazon-Mitarbeiter miteinander interagieren, teilten andere BHM1-Mitarbeiter ihre Gedanken über die Gewerkschaftskampagne mit. Ein Arbeitnehmer befürchtete, dass die Arbeitnehmer bei einer Abstimmung in der Gewerkschaft den Zugang zu bestimmten Leistungen von Amazon verlieren würden, beispielsweise zum Weiterbildungsprogramm, bei dem Amazon einen Prozentsatz der Studiengebühren für die Ausbildung von Lagerarbeitern für Jobs in anderen Bereichen mit hoher Nachfrage zahlt.

Ein anderer Arbeiter war der Meinung, dass eine Gewerkschaft nicht notwendig sei, und behauptete, wenn man hart arbeitet, könne man bei Amazon erfolgreich sein: “Ich habe mit Nein gestimmt. Amazon ist nur ein Spiel mit Regeln. Lernen Sie die Regeln, spielen Sie das Spiel, steigen Sie auf, gewinnen Sie. “”

Obligatorische Sitzungen

Einige BHM1-Mitarbeiter empfanden die gewerkschaftsfeindlichen Nachrichten von Amazon als zu aggressiv.

Ein Mitarbeiter von BHM1, der als Stower arbeitet und Gegenstände in leere Lagerplätze in der gesamten Einrichtung überführt, sagte, Amazon habe die Texte, Flyer und obligatorischen Besprechungen so gestaltet, dass die Botschaft vermittelt wird, dass die Gewerkschaft niemandem helfen würde. Dieser Arbeitnehmer bat um Anonymität aus Sorge um den Verlust seines Arbeitsplatzes.

Der Arbeiter, der für die Gewerkschaft gestimmt hatte, sagte, er sei vorsichtig, Unterstützung für die Gewerkschaftsbildung vor Amazon und seinen Mitarbeitern zu zeigen, und sei nervös, Fragen zu stellen, statt dumm zu sein, um nicht gefeuert zu werden.

Luftaufnahme der Amazonas-Einrichtung in Bessemer, Alabama, 5. März 2021, in der die Arbeitnehmer darüber abstimmen werden, ob sie sich gewerkschaftlich organisieren wollen.

Dustin Chambers | Reuters

In einer obligatorischen Sitzung, die vor der Verteilung der Stimmzettel im Februar stattfand, versuchte Amazon, Zweifel daran zu wecken, wie die Arbeitnehmergebühren ausgegeben werden, indem er den Arbeitnehmern mitteilte, dass die RWDSU jährlich mehr als 100.000 US-Dollar für Fahrzeuge für Arbeitnehmer ausgab. Der Arbeiter war skeptisch gegenüber der Präsentation von Amazon und dachte, dass Amazon wahrscheinlich jedes Jahr viel mehr für Autos ausgab als die Gewerkschaft.

Gewerkschaftspräsident Stuart Appelbaum sagte in einem Interview, dass die RWDSU Autos für einige Vertreter kauft, deren Aufgabe es ist, von Arbeitsplatz zu Arbeitsplatz zu reisen, um Mitglieder zu vertreten und zu betreuen.

Amazon sagte, es wolle den Arbeitnehmern, insbesondere denjenigen ohne Vorkenntnisse der Gewerkschaften, erklären, dass eine Gewerkschaft ein Unternehmen ist, das Beiträge erhebt und erklärt, wie diese Beiträge verwendet werden können.

In einem weiteren obligatorischen Treffen teilten die beiden Bessemer-Mitarbeiter CNBC mit, Amazon habe Beispiele früherer Verträge verteilt, die die RWDSU gewonnen habe, und versucht, die Mängel der Gewerkschaft herauszustellen. Amazon behauptete auch, dass die RWDSU in erster Linie eine Geflügelarbeitergewerkschaft sei, die nur über begrenzte Erfahrung in der Vertretung von Lagerarbeitern verfüge.

Appelbaum sagte, Geflügelarbeiter machten einen bedeutenden Teil der RWDSU-Mitgliedschaft in Alabama aus, und viele der Organisatoren, die die Kampagne leiteten und sich beim Abschluss ihrer Schicht an Amazon-Arbeiter außerhalb von BHM1 wandten, stammten aus nahe gelegenen Geflügelfabriken. Die Gewerkschaft vertritt auch Arbeitnehmer in anderen Branchen, darunter Einzelhandel, Lebensmittelproduktion, gemeinnützige Organisationen und Cannabis, sagte Chelsea Connor, Sprecherin der RWDSU.

Auf die Frage, ob die RWDSU als Geflügelgewerkschaft charakterisiert sei, antwortete Amazon, sie wolle den Arbeitnehmern zeigen, wie gut oder schlecht die Gewerkschaft ihren Arbeitgeber verstehen könne.

Während der Treffen versuchte Amazon auch, negative Ergebnisse hervorzuheben, die sich aus der Abstimmung für die Gewerkschaft ergeben könnten. Amazon sagte den Arbeitern, die Gewerkschaft könne die Arbeiter zum Streik zwingen und die Arbeitnehmer könnten in Zukunft ihre Leistungen verlieren, sagten die Arbeiter gegenüber CNBC.

Das Mid-South-Büro der RWDSU, das die Organisation bei Amazon leitete, widersprach der Behauptung von Amazon, dass die Gewerkschaft BHM1-Arbeiter zum Streik zwingen würde, und nannte es laut den an die Arbeiter verteilten Mitteilungen eine “Angst-Taktik”.

“Amazon hat unterstellt, dass die Gewerkschaft Sie in einen Streik ziehen wird”, sagte Randy Hadley, Präsident des Mid-South Council, in einem Brief an die Arbeiter im Februar, in dem auch andere Behauptungen von Amazon angesprochen werden. “Hier sind die Fakten, unsere Mitgliedschaft und unsere Mitgliedschaft kontrollieren NUR, ob mit einer Super-Mehrheit gestreikt werden soll oder nicht. Dies bedeutet, dass fast 4.000 Amazon-Arbeiter abstimmen müssten, um in den Streik zu treten. Ein Streik kann bei Bedarf nützlich sein, ist es aber auch.” sehr, sehr selten. Dies ist eine weitere Angst-Taktik von Amazon. “

Amazon sagte, es wollte die Arbeitnehmer darauf hinweisen, dass die Gewerkschaft bei einer Abstimmung in einer Gewerkschaft einen Streik fordern könnte, da dies der Haupthebel der Gewerkschaft gegenüber einem Arbeitgeber ist.

Als Antwort auf die Frage, ob es den Arbeitnehmern mitgeteilt wurde, dass sie ihre Leistungen verlieren könnten, wenn eine Gewerkschaft gewählt wird, sagte Amazon, es habe versucht, die Arbeitnehmer im Rahmen der allgemeinen Bildung über Gewerkschaften darüber zu informieren, dass es viele Ergebnisse gibt, die sich aus Tarifverhandlungen ergeben können.

Nicht die letzte Anstrengung

Amazon-Mitarbeiter, Gewerkschaftsführer und Arbeitnehmervertreter hoffen, dass der Verlust in Alabama nicht der letzte Versuch sein wird, die weitläufige Belegschaft des Einzelhandelsgiganten zu organisieren.

Möglicherweise gibt es auch zukünftige Kampagnen bei BHM1. Der Arbeiter, der für die Gewerkschaft gestimmt hat, sagte, einige gewerkschaftsfreundliche Angestellte hätten die Möglichkeit diskutiert, sich an die Teamsters zu wenden und eine zukünftige Gewerkschaftskampagne in ihrem Lager durchzuführen.

An anderer Stelle erwägen Amazonas-Arbeiter und Gewerkschaften unterschiedliche Organisationsstrategien. Das Teamsters kommuniziert mit Amazon-Fahrern und Lagerarbeitern in einer Einrichtung in Iowa und erwägt Wege, um Arbeiter über den Wahlprozess hinaus zu sammeln. Amazon-Mitarbeiter in Chicago haben eine Gruppe gebildet, um Mitarbeiter in Einrichtungen in der Region zu organisieren, die Amazonians United Chicagoland heißt.

Ein Mitarbeiter einer Amazon-Einrichtung in New Jersey, der ebenfalls um Anonymität bat, sagte, er habe sich zuvor an eine Gewerkschaft gewandt, um die Einrichtung zu organisieren. Nachdem der Arbeiter das Ergebnis in Bessemer gesehen hatte, sagte er, dass sie zum Zeichenbrett zurückkehren und sich mit informelleren Taktiken befassen, um eine Hebelwirkung zu erzielen.

Susan Schurman, Professorin an der School of Management and Labour Relations der Rutgers University, verwies auf die Alphabet Workers Union, eine kürzlich gegründete Minderheitengewerkschaft mit mehr als 800 Google-Mitarbeitern, als potenzielles Modell für Amazon-Mitarbeiter.

Im Gegensatz zu traditionellen Gewerkschaften repräsentieren Minderheitengewerkschaften nicht die Mehrheit der Arbeitnehmer, sondern nur diejenigen, die sich für einen Beitritt entscheiden. Sie werden auch von der NLRB nicht anerkannt und fungieren nicht als Verhandlungspartner mit Arbeitgebern.

Schurman sagte jedoch, dass Minderheitengewerkschaften als “Weg zu Mehrheitsgewerkschaften” dienen und ein wirksames Instrument für den Aufbau von Arbeitnehmerunterstützung sein können, noch bevor eine formelle Kampagne mit der NLRB gestartet wird.

“Warum nicht bleiben und eine Organisation aufbauen und dabei bleiben?” Sagte Schurman. “Lassen Sie die Arbeiter neue Mitglieder rekrutieren und den Wert einer kollektiven Verhandlungsmacht demonstrieren.”

Appelbaum, der Präsident der RWDSU, sagte, eine Strategie der Minderheitengewerkschaft sei “eine Überlegung wert”.

“Wir haben noch keine Entscheidung getroffen, aber ich denke, wir werden es uns ansehen”, sagte Appelbaum. “Wir wissen, dass wir nicht weggehen.”

Categories
Business

Amazon Employees Defeat Union Effort in Alabama

Amazon Workers Defeat Union Effort in Alabama

Amazon fought back the most significant labor dispute in its history on Friday when a tally showed that workers at its huge Alabama warehouse had voted firmly against the formation of a union.

Workers cast 1,798 votes against a union, which gave Amazon enough to forcefully thwart efforts. According to federal officials, the vote for a union was 738, less than 30 percent of the vote.

The one-sided outcome at the 6,000-person warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama dealt a heavy blow to work organizers, Democrats and their allies at a time when conditions were ripe for unions to move forward.

Amazon, which has repeatedly suppressed labor activism, appeared to be vulnerable as it faced increasing scrutiny of its market power and influence in Washington and around the world. President Biden signaled support for the union effort, as did Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermonter. The pandemic, which caused millions of people to shop online, also shed light on the plight of key workers and raised questions about Amazon’s ability to protect these employees.

However, in an aggressive campaign, the company argued that its workers had access to rewarding jobs without having to involve a union. The win leaves Amazon the freedom to treat employees on its own terms as it went on a hiring frenzy and expanded its workforce to more than 1.3 million people.

Margaret O’Mara, a professor at the University of Washington who studies the history of tech companies, said Amazon’s message of offering good jobs with good wages won over criticism from the union and its supporters. The result, she said, “reads as a justification.”

She added that while the elections were just a warehouse, they had attracted so much attention that they had become a “brawl.” Amazon’s victory likely led organized workers to think “maybe it is not worth trying other places,” Ms. O’Mara said.

The retail, wholesale and department stores union that spearheaded the campaign blamed Amazon’s anti-union tactics before and during the vote, which ran from early February to late last month. The union said it would question the election results and call on federal labor officials to investigate Amazon in an attempt to create “an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and / or fear of reprisal”.

“Our system is broken,” said Stuart Appelbaum, the union’s president. “Amazon took full advantage of that.”

Amazon said in a statement that “the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that is not true.” It added, “Amazon did not win – our employees made the decision to vote against joining a union.”

About 50 percent of the 5,805 eligible voters in the camp cast ballots in the elections. A majority of 1,521 votes was required to win. About 500 ballot papers were mostly contested by Amazon, the union said. These ballot papers were not counted.

William and Lavonette Stokes, who started working at the Bessemer camp in July, said the union had not convinced them how to improve their working conditions. Amazon already offers good performance, relatively high pay starting at $ 15 an hour, and opportunities for advancement, said the couple, who have five children.

“Amazon is the only job I know of where they pay for your health insurance from day one,” said Ms. Stokes, 52. She added that she was put off by how organizers tried to view the union action as an extension of the Black Lives Matter movement as most of the workers are black.

“This wasn’t an African American problem,” said Ms. Stokes, who is black. “I think you can work there comfortably without being bothered.”

The vote could lead to a rethinking of strategy within the labor movement.

For years, union organizers have tried to use growing concerns about low-wage workers to break into Amazon. The retail, wholesale and department store unions had addressed critical issues related to supporting key black workers in the pandemic. The union had estimated that 85 percent of the workers in the Bessemer camp were black.

The inability to organize the warehouse also follows decades of unsuccessful and costly attempts to form unions at Walmart, the only American company that employs more people than Amazon. The repeated failures in two large companies could lead labor organizers to focus more on supporting national policies, such as a higher federal minimum wage, than on unionizing individual jobs.

The Amazon warehouse on the outskirts of Birmingham opened a year ago when the pandemic hit. It was part of a significant expansion for the company that accelerated during the pandemic. Last year, Amazon grew by more than 400,000 employees in the US, which now employs almost a million people. Warehouse workers typically assemble and package orders for items for customers.

The union efforts came together quickly, especially for someone aiming at such a big goal. A small group of workers in the Bessemer building reached out to the local retail union branch last summer. They were frustrated with the way Amazon was constantly using technology to monitor every second of their work day and felt that their managers were unwilling to listen to their complaints.

Organizers had at least 2,000 workers sign cards saying they wanted an election, enough for the National Labor Relations Board, which conducts union elections, to approve a vote.

The election was carried out by mail, a concession to the pandemic. Instead of holding elections for just a few days, workers had more than a month to fill out and send in their March 29 ballot papers.

Amazon’s public campaign focused on the company’s accomplishments and the $ 15 minimum wage, which is double the Alabama minimum wage. Internally, it was stressed that workers do not have to pay for union membership to have a good job. The company’s slogan – “Do it for free” – was conveyed to employees in text messages, mandatory meetings, and signs in toilet cubicles.

The union had complained that these tactics showed how companies like Amazon can have an advantage in holding mandatory anti-union meetings and having access to workers in the warehouse to convince them to vote no. In 2018, the union also tried and failed to gain a foothold in an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island.

Ms. O’Mara said complaints about the union about job stability and safety made it difficult for workers to organize. This is because the impermanence of warehouse jobs “counteracts solidarity and willingness to invest in this employer and this job,” she said.

Many union leaders said union formation at Amazon was critical to reversing the long-term decline in union membership, which fell from the upper teens to just over 6 percent of the private sector in the early 1980s.

They argued that Amazon had power over millions of workers in the industries in which it operated. The dominance of the company has forced its competitors to adopt their work practices, where efficiency is paramount.

“Amazon is changing the industry one by one,” said Appelbaum, president of the retail workers’ union, in an interview in 2019. “Amazon’s vision of the world is not the vision we want or can tolerate.” He has often referred to efforts to unify Amazon as a struggle for the “future of work”.

Some union leaders said the campaign in Bessemer would advance work goals, even if it ended in loss.

The election generated “a lot of coverage and discussion, and people in this country are hearing that unions are the solution,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. “We were able to have a real discussion about what the union is actually doing.”

Noam Scheiber, Sophia June and Miles McKinley contributed to the coverage.

Categories
Health

Alabama Might Enable Yoga in Public Colleges After a 28-Yr Ban

Alabama Could Allow Yoga in Public Schools After a 28-Year Ban

Mr. Gray indicated that his bill would allow schools and students to make their own decisions about whether to offer or attend yoga classes. It is also said that public school teachers cannot say “namaste,” a greeting often used in yoga, or any type of chant.

“You have to compromise to get this bipartisan support,” he said.

Most of the time, Mr. Gray encountered the problem by accident. In a speech at a public high school in Auburn, Ala., In 2019, he mentioned that yoga had helped him keep grounded while juggling responsibilities.

After he explained, the teachers informed him that they could not arrange exercises for their students. “That’s how I learned it was banned,” said Mr. Gray.

Around the time of the ban in 1993, the state’s parents raised concerns not only about yoga, but also about hypnosis and “psychotherapeutic techniques.” According to an April 1993 article in The Anniston Star, a mother in Birmingham said her child brought home a relaxation tape that made a boy “visibly high,” The Montgomery Advertiser reported.

But for Mr. Gray, a former soccer player, yoga has long been a useful part of his training schedule. The gentle stretches helped him cool off after a workout, while the breathing exercises strengthened his lungs. (That, he added, may have helped him recover quickly from a Covid-19 attack last year.)

He put his first bill to challenge the yoga ban in 2019, but it quickly failed. His second attempt passed the house in 2020, but was pushed into the background because of the pandemic.

This time Mr. Gray is optimistic about the bill’s prospects. He said a Republican Senator, Tom Whatley, has agreed to drive legislation in the Senate, where Republicans like the House have a majority. (Mr. Whatley didn’t immediately respond to an email asking for comment on Friday.)

Categories
Politics

How Biden’s Solidarity Emboldened a Liberal Push for Energy in Alabama

How Biden’s Solidarity Emboldened a Liberal Push for Power in Alabama

While union leaders, local union activists, and national progressive politicians are all in support of an Amazon union in Alabama, this sentiment does not reflect the mood in the camp itself. Less than a month before the union vote, the 5,800-worker camp is divided among union supporters, strong dissidents and an apathetic center that is fed up with national attention.

Outside the factory – where some workers work 12-hour shifts – union activists and journalists are likely to experience a number of angry refusals when asking to speak to employees. Some workers wear “Vote No” needles while others speak of anti-union literature in public areas and bathrooms. And on social media, employees report their longing for March 29, when the election ends.

Amazon has aggressively countered union efforts, highlighting the company’s benefit package and its $ 15 minimum wage, as well as job growth in an economically stagnant area of ​​the south.

Last week, at an Amazon-hosted round table of anti-union warehouse workers, some said in the media that Mr Biden’s message was unnecessary and that they were not intimidated by the company. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment directly on the president’s remarks.

“I know the president weighed,” said JC Thompson, a litigation assistant at the warehouse. “And I can’t imagine the pressure our leadership is feeling because there are a few people – a minority – who are upset.”

Carla Johnson, a warehouse clerk, said she was voting to not join in unionization.

“I can speak for myself,” she said. “I don’t need someone from the outside to come in and say this or that.”

The diversity of opinion suggested why Mr Biden’s message was so calibrated – to support workers’ right to fair elections but not to support the union itself. And some observers, including Amazon camp workers, believe the president’s words will have little impact on the outcome of the union vote.

Categories
Business

Alabama Gov. Ivey lifts statewide Covid masks mandate starting April 9

Alabama Gov. Ivey lifts statewide Covid mask mandate beginning April 9

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announces the renewal of a state ordinance mandating face masks in public during a news conference on July 29, 2020 in Montgomery, Ala.

Kim Chandler | AP

Alabama plans to overturn a statewide ordinance requiring people to wear masks in public on April 9, even if Governor Kay Ivey extends the state declaration of emergency for Covid-19 by 60 days.

“Let me be very clear that after April 9, I will no longer keep the mask order in effect,” said Ivey on Thursday.

Ivey extended mask orders and other health measures, which should expire on March 8, to give companies enough time to implement their own guidelines, she announced at a press conference. The governor urged residents to continue wearing face coverings even though the state will no longer mandate them.

“While I am convinced that a mask mandate was the right thing to do, I also respect those who object and believe that this was a step too far in going beyond government,” said Ivey.

The state’s expanded “Safer at Home” regulation, which now runs through April 9, allows restaurants and bars to operate without group size restrictions, although tables must meet additional sanitary requirements and remain 6 feet apart.

The ordinance allows senior centers to resume their outdoor activities, and hospitals and nursing homes can each welcome one additional visitor. The state’s public health declaration of emergency now expires on May 7th.

The governor noted that state hospitals have reported a 77% decrease in their weekly average number of daily Covid patients, about 686 people since peaking in mid-January. While Alabama is going in the “right direction,” Ivey said the expanded order will give the state more time to give residents their first dose of a vaccine.

According to recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just over 674,800 Alabama residents have received at least one dose of vaccine – nearly 14% of the total.

The Republican governor’s decision to lift the state’s mask mandate comes just days after both Texas and Mississippi announced similar moves on Tuesday. However, President Joe Biden and senior US health officials criticized the decision as a “big mistake”.

“We are on the verge of fundamentally changing the nature of this disease because we can get vaccines into people’s arms. … The last, the last thing we need is the Neanderthals’ thinking. That,” In the meantime Is everything ok. Take off your mask. Forget it. “It’s still important,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the date the Safer Home order will be fulfilled. It expires on April 9th ​​at 5 p.m.

Categories
Business

Amazon Staff’ Union Drive Reaches Far Past Alabama

Amazon Workers’ Union Drive Reaches Far Beyond Alabama

National Football League players were among the first to express their support. Then came Stacey Abrams, the Democratic star who helped turn Georgia blue in the 2020 election.

Actor Danny Glover traveled to Bessemer, Ala. For a press conference last week, where he spoke about the union-friendly leanings of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called to urge workers in the Amazon warehouse there to organize. Tina Fey weighed, as did Senator Bernie Sanders.

And on Sunday, President Biden made a resounding declaration of solidarity with the workers who are now voting on whether to form a union in Amazon’s Bessemer camp without naming the company. His video, posted on his official Twitter account, was one of the most haunting statements in recent history in support of union formation by an American president.

“Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union,” said Biden.

A union campaign that had purposely stayed under the radar for months has turned into a showdown with stars in recent days to influence workers at Amazon, one of the world’s dominant corporations whose power has grown exponentially during the pandemic. On one side is the retail, wholesale and department store union and its many work-friendly allies in politics, sports and Hollywood. On the flip side, it’s an e-commerce behemoth that has fought off previous union efforts in its U.S. facilities in its more than 25-year history.

This union vote in a referendum not only draws attention to the working conditions in the Bessemer camp, which employs 5,800 people, but also, in particular, to the plight of low-wage and color workers. Many of the workers at the Alabama camp are black, a fact that union organizers highlighted in their campaign to link the vote to the struggle for civil rights in the south.

The Retail Workers Union has a long history of organizing black workers in the poultry and food industries and helping them obtain basic benefits such as paid time off and safety protection, as well as a means of economic security. The union portrays its efforts in Bessemer as part of that legacy.

“This is an organizing campaign on the right to work in the south during the pandemic at one of the largest companies in the world,” said Benjamin Sachs, professor of work and industry at Harvard Law School. “The importance of a union victory there really couldn’t be emphasized enough.”

Warehouse workers began voting by post on February 8, and ballots are due by the end of that month. A union can be formed if a majority of the votes cast is in favor of such a move.

Amazon’s counter-campaign, both inside the warehouse and nationally, has focused on pure economics: the starting wage is $ 15 an hour plus benefits. That’s far more than the competition in Alabama, where the minimum wage is $ 7.25 an hour.

“It is important that employees understand the facts of union membership,” said Heather Knox, an Amazon spokeswoman, in a statement. “We will provide information about this and the electoral process so that you can make an informed decision. If the union vote is successful, it will affect all local employees, and it is important that employees understand what this means for them and their daily lives at Amazon. “The company, which went through a major hiring frenzy last year when domestic customers had sales of $ 386 billion, posted profits of more than $ 22 billion.

In Alabama, some workers are getting tired of the process. One employee recently posted on Facebook: “This union stuff is getting on my nerves. Let it be March 30th !!! “

The situation is getting worse and union leaders accuse Amazon of a number of “anti-union” tactics.

The company has posted signs throughout the warehouse, next to hand disinfection stations and even in toilet cubicles. It sends texts and emails regularly and draws attention to the problems with the unions. The internal company app publishes photos of employees in Bessemer showing how much they love Amazon.

During certain training sessions, company representatives have pointed out the cost of union dues. If some workers asked specific questions in the meetings, then the representatives from Amazon followed them in their workplaces and again emphasized the disadvantages of unions, say employees and organizers. The meetings were called off when the voting began, but the signs are still there, said Jennifer Bates, a union-friendly worker at the warehouse.

In this charged atmosphere, even routine matters have become suspicious. The union has raised questions about changing the timing of a traffic light near the warehouse where work organizers try to speak to workers if they are stopped in their vehicles as they exit the facility.

Amazon asked district officials to change the timing of the light in mid-December, although there is no evidence in the district’s records that the change was made to thwart the union. “Traffic for Amazon is secured by changing shifts,” said the public records as the reason the district changed the light.

Amazon regularly navigates to traffic issues at its facilities, and wasting unpaid time in congested parking lots is a common complaint from Amazon employees on Facebook groups.

However, retail workers union president Stuart Appelbaum questioned the timing of the request in Bessemer, as it did at the height of the organization. “When the light was red, we could answer questions and have a quick chat with the workers,” he said.

Last week the union questioned an offer by the company to Alabama warehouse workers to pay them at least $ 1,000 if they quit by the end of March.

“They are trying to remove the most likely union supporters from their workforce by bribing them to leave and giving up their vote,” said Appelbaum.

But “The Offer,” as it is known among employees, was the same thing Amazon made to workers in all of its warehouses across the country. It’s an annual program that allows the company to reduce its headcount without layoffs after the busy season. It’s been around since at least 2014 when Jeff Bezos wrote about it in a letter to shareholders.

“Once a year we offer our employees to pay for the termination,” said Bezos at the time.

Mr. Appelbaum was not influenced. He said he believed Amazon decided to make the offer in all camps to rule out possible yes votes in Bessemer.

Mr Biden stopped pushing Amazon workers to unionize, but his testimony immediately increased the streak of an already momentous campaign.

“Let me be really clear,” said Mr Biden. “It’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear: It is not up to an employer to decide either. The decision to join a union rests with the workers. Point.”

He added, “Workers in Alabama and across America are voting on whether to unionize in their workplace. This is critical – an extremely important decision. “And it is one, he said, that should be done without intimidation or threats.

Despite the union’s suspicions, she has not filed any formal complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, Appelbaum said. Typically, unions can object to a company’s tactics before an election and the labor authority can intervene.

Should a complaint be filed, the labor authority may find that the election is invalid due to Amazon’s actions. After months of working to build support inside and outside the Amazon camp, the union’s last thing they want is for the labor authority to step in and decide that the elections must be held again.

Harvard Law School’s Mr Sachs said that, despite Mr Biden’s admonitions to meddle in elections, the current labor law allows Amazon to hold certain mandatory meetings with workers to discuss why they should not union and this enables the company to post anti-union messages in the workplace.

By aggressively targeting the union, Amazon risks angering the Washington Democrats, many of whom are already calling for greater antitrust control over large tech companies. Amazon launched a public campaign in support of legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and bought prominent ads in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other publications.

In his video on Sunday, President Biden specifically mentioned how unions can help “black and brown workers” and vulnerable workers struggling during the economic crisis sparked by the pandemic.

Ms. Bates, 48, one of the leaders of the union action, started working in the Bessemer camp in May.

She said she was offended by some anti-union efforts by Amazon, particularly what the company told employees that they had to pay nearly $ 500 in union dues every year. Because Alabama is a right to work, there is no such requirement that an employee pay dues in a unionized workplace.

“It annoys me a little because I feel like they know the truth and they are not telling the truth and they take advantage of them because they know that employees come from a community that is considered black and low-income,” said Mrs. Bates, who is black. “It felt really horrible that you were standing there deliberately misleading people. Give them the facts and let them decide. “