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Biden expresses support for Amazon workers voting to unionize in Alabama

In a video, the president reminds workers that the choice of whether to join a union is theirs alone and warns against intimidation tactics by employers.

Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.
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Katie Collins

President Joe Biden has stated publicly his support for workers attempting to unionize in Alabama, just as thousands of Amazon workers in the state vote in an election on whether to form a union. In a video published late Sunday on the White House's YouTube channel, Biden reiterated the promise he made during his election campaign to support the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain.

Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama should by now have received their postal ballots for their union election, which is taking place this month. The vote, which Amazon sought to delay while it fought for an in-person election, will be the first union election at a US Amazon warehouse since a failed effort in 2014. It'll also be the largest US group of Amazon workers to vote on the question, at around 5,800 people.

"Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama, and all across America, are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace," said Biden, not mentioning Amazon by name.

Amazon didn't immediately respond to request for comment on Biden's remarks.

In the video Biden reminded workers that the choice of whether to join a union doesn't belong to him, nor to their employers, but is their decision alone to take. He called it a "vitally important choice," and warned against threats, intimidation and anti-union propaganda. "Make your voice heard," he said.