Red lights and bathroom posters: Amazon’s all-out fight to block a union

An Amazon-sponsored billboard urging employees to return their unionisation ballots is seen on March 28, 2021 in Bessemer, Alabama. Employees at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer are currently voting on whether to form a union, a decision that could have national repercussions. — AFP

BESSEMER, United States: “Make sure you take care of us!” a worker shouts to two union organisers in orange vests standing at the entrance of Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama – ground zero of a battle over unionising the American retail giant.

The sun is not yet up, but the two organisers Steve and Syrena gamely wave their posters to catch the attention of night-shift workers pouring out of the huge facility and of day-side employees taking over on a foggy Saturday morning.