Statement from Alabama AFL-CIO President

President Bren Riley on Bessemer, Alabama Union Election Results

“This goes to show what happens when our woefully outdated labor laws allow corporations to get away with blatantly illegal union-busting activity, knowing the worst they’ll receive is a slap on the wrist.”

“In all of my years in Alabama’s labor movement—and at this point, I’ve been involved for the better part of my life—I have never seen such bravery as what we have witnessed over the last several months at the Amazon warehouse plant in Bessemer, Alabama.

These workers looked at one of the most powerful corporations in the world right in the eye, knowing Amazon would stop at nothing to silence them, and still fought for their right to a collective voice on the job. That in itself is historical.

Let’s be clear: Every single tactic used by Amazon during this union campaign was based around fear, intimidation, and manipulation.

This goes to show what happens when our woefully outdated labor laws allow corporations to get away with blatantly illegal union-busting activity, knowing the worst they’ll receive is a slap on the wrist. Hell, for Jeff Bezos, a few thousand dollars charged by the National Labor Relations Board is what he makes in a matter of seconds.

Our nation’s labor movement is long overdue for serious labor law reform. The Amazon union campaign deeply underscores the need to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, legislation currently awaiting a vote in the US Senate. If passed into law, it will be the largest law reform since the Great Depression.

Let me be clear: This is not the end. The Alabama AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) as they move forward with objection to the blatantly illegal conduct of the election and the related unfair labor practice (ULPs) with the NLRB.”

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The Alabama AFL-CIO is a key part of the nation's largest and strongest labor federation—the AFL-CIO, which unites millions working women and men of every race and ethnicity and from every walk of life