Amazon’s Rejection of Unions in Alabama Is a Big Loss for Big Labor

Amazon’s Rejection of Unions in Alabama Is a Big Loss for Big Labor
People hold a banner at the Amazon facility as members of a congressional delegation arrive to show their support for workers who will vote on whether to unionize, in Bessemer, Ala., on March 5, 2021. Dustin Chambers/Reuters
Andy Puzder
Updated:
Commentary

Big labor suffered a significant loss in its attempt to unionize employees at Amazon’s warehouse facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Of the workers eligible to vote, an embarrassingly small 16 percent voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. It was the most recent in a series of high-profile losses for labor including failed attempts to unionize factories for Volkswagen, Nissan Motors, and Boeing. In each case, union leaders bet that they could convince workers it was in their best interests to be enrolled in a union that would stand up to management over wages and working conditions. In each case, they lost.

Andy Puzder
Andy Puzder
Author
Andrew F. Puzder was chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants for more than 16 years (2000—2017), following a career as an attorney. He received his B.A. from Cleveland State University and his J.D. from the Washington University School of Law. He serves as chairman of the board at 2ndVote Advisers, an investment firm formed in response to the stakeholder capitalism and ESG movements, and is a fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy, the Heritage Foundation, and the America First Policy Institute. He was an economic adviser for former President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was nominated by President Trump to serve as U.S. labor secretary. In 2011, Puzder co-authored “Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It.” His latest book is “The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left’s Plot to Stop It” (2018).
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