Vote-counting is set to begin Thursday or Friday on the question of whether Amazon.com warehouse workers at a facility in the southern U.S. state of Alabama would join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
The RWDSU said Wednesday the U.S. National Labor Relations Board had received more than 3,200 votes in the election that was open to 5,800 workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.
If the measure is approved, the warehouse would be the first Amazon facility to unionize in the United States.
Those pushing for unionization say they want improved working conditions, more break time, opportunities for advancement and better pay.
Amazon says opening the facility in Bessemer brought thousands of jobs to the area with starting salaries more than twice the minimum wage in Alabama along with health care and retirement benefits.
This is not the first push for collective bargaining at Amazon. In 2014, machinists at a warehouse in Delaware voted more than 3-to-1 against unionization.
