BESSEMER, Alabama: Some Democratic members of Congress and national union leaders on Friday sought to rustle up support for unionizing a massive Amazon facility outside Birmingham, comparing Alabama workers organizing campaign to the civil rights movement.
Mail voting by about 6,000 workers at the sprawling distribution facility began in February and runs through the end of March. Its the largest organizing attempt in Amazons history, carrying high stakes for the second-largest employer in the country, which has a record of crushing unionizing efforts at its warehouses and its Whole Foods grocery stores.
The outcome is critical for Amazon and organized labor in general.
If the Alabama effort succeeds, it could set off a chain reaction across Amazons operations nationwide, with thousands more workers demanding better working conditions and seeking collective bargaining. It also would be seen as a boon to other labor sectors in the historically anti-union South and beyond.
U.S. Rep….