During the vote on the union: Amazon offers severance pay
No time right now?
Amazon employees in Alabama want to form a union. A severance pay program could jeopardize the vote.
In Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon employees plan to form a union. Voting on it began this month, and votes are to be counted at the end of March. Anyone who is dissatisfied with the working conditions now has a choice: quit and get severance pay or stay and vote?
Amazon had already tried to form the union through official channels to stop and filed an application with the US National Labor Relations Board. Via the website www.doitwithoutdues.com Amazon also tries to convince employees of the disadvantages of union membership. A severance payment program has now started.
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Annual severance pay program
Employees get $ 1,000 or more when they leave the company. “If you pursue goals outside of Amazon, we support you,” says a brochure that comes first Kim Kelly posted on Twitter would have.
It is now clear, however, that this is an annual program. Because the center in Bessemer only opened in March 2020, the program was not yet known to the employees there and had therefore sparked rumors about a deliberate strategy against the establishment of the union.
Voting could be jeopardized
Nevertheless, the timing is extremely unfavorable, at least from the perspective of the organizers of the vote on the formation of a union. “That could endanger the vote,” said Michael Forster Vice motherboard.
If employees have already voted but quit now, their vote would no longer count. The severance pay program ends shortly before the votes are counted.
According to Reuters almost 6,200 people work for Amazon in Bessemer. Depending on the outcome of the election, they would be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
