Last summer 2000 of the 6000 workers of the establishment Amazon di Bessemer, in Alabama, they asked to form a union once they saw working conditions that subjected workers to frantic pace and extreme controls. Among the various complaints, that of not even being able to go to the bathroom, to the point of having to urinate in a bottle. It seemed, for some, an exaggeration until this aspect was recognized by the very top of Amazon who responded by claiming a salary of $ 15, above the industry average.
E ‘news yesterday, that eight months later, in the referendum that was to sanction or not the constitution of the union, there were 738 in favor, while the against were over 1,798. A huge political victory for Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world who, moreover, got richer than anyone else during the pandemic. Also in Europe the supporters of globalization without constraints and without rules, have heralded victory without inhibitions, given that for them the unions and the demands of the workers represent an obstacle as well as a cost.
But what is behind this overwhelming victory? As the American union RWDSU has denounced, there are 8 months of hammering, deeply anti-union campaign, which has intimidated any ambition to demand better working conditions. To this was added a tough legal battle that led Amazon itself to contest in advance as many as 500 ballots.
* European Deputy