 So I think that absolutely everyone should be paying attention to the unionization effort that is taking place in Alabama. So for those of you who don't know, Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama could be the first in the company's history to actually successfully form a union. Now we won't find out until the end of March, which is when the vote takes place. But this has broader implications that extend far beyond Amazon. Not only could it create a sort of internal domino effect within Amazon, where more warehouses across the country choose to unionize, but it could catalyze a new movement for unionization across America in Walmart and, you know, other companies. So obviously corporate America does not want this to happen. Amazon has been fighting tooth and nail not only against this effort to unionize in Alabama, but for years now they've tried to thwart unions and the increasing talks of unions and popularity of unions. You know, now that people are exploited, especially during a pandemic, more than ever we're seeing the necessity of unions. But Amazon, they have been trying so thoroughly to brainwash their employees to be against unions that they've got to be hating this. Now I want to show you this leaked video. This is from a new trainee video. They show this to new employees and this is just straight up anti-union propaganda. This is an attempt to brainwash new hires. We don't badmouth unions in general, but we will speak openly with associates about unions, including any specific concerns about particular unions involved in organizing. And we share our preference for a direct working relationship frequently and boldly, even when no organizing activity has occurred. You will learn about the warning signs most commonly associated with early union organizing, as well as other warning signs that could indicate associate disengagement, vulnerability to organizing or early organizing activity. While employees have the right to organize, we have a right and responsibility to share our position that a direct working relationship is better for the customer, the company and the associate. In order to be able to do that effectively, it is critical that we recognize the early warning signs of potential organizing and escalate concerns promptly. If you see warning signs of potential organizing, notify your building HRM and GM site leader immediately. HRM's and GM site leaders should notify their assigned ER managers or ER principal immediately. The most obvious signs would include use of words associated with unions or union led movements like living wage or steward, petitions or other concerted activity such as an associate purporting to speak on behalf of his or her coworkers when raising concerns, union graffiti, union t-shirts, hats, jackets or other clothing, union flyers and union visitors in or near the parking lot. Some signs are less obvious than finding the actual union flyer, but they can still indicate associate disengagement, which is itself a warning sign for potential organizing. Examples include associates who normally aren't connected to each other suddenly hanging out together, associates who were close suddenly stopped speaking to each other, groups of associates scatter when approached by management, increased associate negativity, anger or confrontation, unusual complaints or change in passion or detail around complaints, unusual interest in policies, benefits, employee lists or other company information or any other associate behavior that is out of character. For example, an associate who normally leaves promptly begins hanging out in the break room for an hour after work each day. In order to recognize warning signs, it is critical that you know what an associate's normal behavior looks like. I love how they're like, well, we're not necessarily neutral, but we're also not anti-union. However, if any of your employees talk about unions whatsoever, if they even behave differently, definitely snitch on them. Report them immediately because we've got to snuff that shit out like that because we can't have no fucking unions here. And it's funny, like this reminds me of the anti-union propaganda video that I was shown when I first started working at Walmart. It was just so like over the top, like they described as, look, Walmart employers and employees, they're a family. We're a family. Do we really want some outside influence coming in and dictating what we as a family choose to do? As if the employees like have any say whatsoever in the decisions of, you know, the executives and whatnot. It's just, it's hilarious. It's shameless. But unfortunately, this is pretty effective because just based on anecdotal evidence from myself, like I asked my coworkers about that anti-union video and a lot of them just kind of like instinctively bought into it because they didn't really know any better. But thankfully, I think that times are changing and people are waking up and this Amazon union could be a game changer if it does in fact get approved. So as Jason Del Rio Fox reports, through the end of March, 5,800 workers at an Amazon warehouse in North Central Alabama have the chance to cast votes by mail to decide whether to unionize. These employees are just a tiny fraction of Amazon's 500,000 plus frontline U.S. workforce, but this union vote could reshape the company's labor practices and maybe the future of warehouse work in America as well. The union vote at BHM one, a four-story Amazon warehouse the size of 15 football fields located in Bessemer, Alabama is the first attempt to unionize a large U.S. Amazon facility in the tech giant's 25 year history. If a majority of the workers who choose to vote opt for unionization, they'll earn a right to bargain for a contract with Amazon under the retail wholesale and department store union, which represents retail staff at department stores like Macy's and H&M as well as thousands of poultry plant workers. A union victory in Bessemer would mark a historic win for U.S. labor organizers who have long failed to crack Amazon, which is the second largest private sector employer in the U.S. and has been accused of demanding a punishing pace of work and surveilling its workforce too aggressively. It would also likely set off a union push at other Amazon facilities across the U.S. So I think it's pretty evident why Amazon does not want this union to form. Now, I want to play a clip from MSNBC, that case study QB shared. This kind of is the story of one Amazon worker who explains how outrageous it is that, you know, they were paid as essential workers. They were given hazard pay at the start of the pandemic, but that was cut off immediately, just months into the pandemic. And even when cases surged to record highs, they weren't considered by the company as essential workers. And this story here is really important. And there's also some additional commentary from MSNBC that follows, which I think is interesting as well. It took away the pay. After a couple of months of giving it to us, they took away the hazard pay and said that we were not essential workers. And maybe the week later, the week later, he gave, I think it was $10 to Black Lives Matter. If it mattered, why aren't you taking care of your people? Now, when we talk about workers like Jennifer Bates, she represents a lot of people who are currently casting their vote, Katie, right now, and they're supporting unionization. But of course we are seeing the counter campaign from Amazon itself in the form of fliering and communication online. And they issued this statement to us at NBC News when we asked them what their response was to Jennifer Bates and other people who support unionization. And they say the fact is that Amazon already offers what unions are requesting for employees. Industry leading pay with a minimum $15 an hour starting wage, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe modern work environment. But if you look at the bigger picture here, Katie, the issue really is for the workers who support unionization, how much money Amazon has made in the pandemic. They've done very well billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos, of course, his wealth exploding. The pandemic holiday season was their best quarter ever. And workers say they want more safety investment so they can continue working there. And they do disclose to us they like working at Amazon. They are appreciative of the fact that Amazon has a fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. They just want better conditions, a higher standard. And that's why you see the president weighing in on this in a very unusual situation. Katie, they've helped make the company a whole lot of money and they have been putting their lives on the line to do it for these past for this past year. Now, Joe Lincoln, Joe, thanks so much. So it's really interesting that she brought up that point from them. Hey, we pay our workers a $15 an hour wage. So why would they need to unionize if they're already paid a living wage? But here's the thing with that, that $15 wage that they always brag about, that is their excuse to not unionize and pay workers more. Because how much value their warehouse workers produce and employees across the board produce, they know damn well that if their workers had a union, they would be paid far more than $15 an hour. So they really want to do everything in their power to make it seem as if they're they're looking out for their employees, they're giving them $15 an hour. But they know that if these employees actually had a union, they would not be making a measly $15 per hour. But that also misses the point because it's not just about pay. It's also about regulations, safety, making sure that during a pandemic, this company is actually following the proper procedures to protect their employees. Now, I want to share a story from a different Amazon warehouse for a moment here in Virginia. And this shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Amazon is not doing enough to look out for the safety of their employees. As status coups Jordan Sheridan reports, Pashaun Brown, a 38 year old Amazon worker who suddenly died in January after working in her Virginia Warehouses COVID testing area for several months complained to human resources and supervisors about Amazon's unsafe and unsanitary conditions early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. Emails obtained by status coup show Pashaun's family couldn't afford an autopsy to find out what caused her death. According to her sister and other sources who worked with her in the DDC three warehouse in Virginia, Brown had been administering COVID-19 nasal swab tests on coworkers for months before her death. While doing so, she wasn't provided the proper N95 mask, surgical gloves, gowns, goggles or other protective measures nurses and doctors are supposed to wear while conducting COVID-19 testing. Amazon should have hired or paid third party companies with medical expertise to conduct testing. Christian Smalls, an Amazon worker who was fired after blowing the whistle on the company's unsafe conditions early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, told status coup as a result of this company cutting corners to save money, workers like Pashaun pay the price. So this is why unions are so crucial. They don't just negotiate for wages and benefits, but working conditions as well. And in the event, Pashaun had a union if that particular warehouse had a union representing representing those workers, then she could have taken her concerns to the union who could have represented her advocated for better equipment or advocated for them to hire a third party company to come in actual experts who know what they're doing. Now, because Amazon was reckless, presumably this individual who worked for Amazon under these unsafe conditions likely contracted COVID-19 and died. She went to sleep and never woke up. This is why unions are absolutely essential. They're essential. Now, I have to give a credit where it's due. I am very critical of Joe Biden, particularly lately because he's been making a lot of mistakes. But when it comes to the Alabama Amazon unionization effort, he has spoken up. And what he did was really powerful. He actually endorsed the effort to unionize by the Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama. So let me be really clear. It's not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear. It's not up to an employer to decide that either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers full stop, full stop today and over the next few days and weeks workers in Alabama and all across America are voting in whether to organize a union in their workplace. This is vitally important, a vitally important choice as America grapples with the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis and the reckoning on race, what it reveals the deep disparities that still exist in our country. And there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda, no supervisor, no supervisors who confront employees about their union preferences. You know, every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union. The law guarantees that choice. And it's your right, not that of an employer. It's your right. No employer can take that right away. So he absolutely, without question, deserves a lot of credit for that. To have a sitting president endorse your effort to unionize, that really is powerful. It means a lot. It's everything. However, having said that, though, that's only the first step because while it really is important for presidents and political allies to endorse these efforts at an individual level, what we really want to do is change the system so that way it isn't so difficult for employees across America to unionize in the first place. And as Mindy as Sierra of Jacobin argues, after decades of anti-union presidents or presidents who say one thing about worker power and do the exact opposite, Joe Biden could easily coast along on Sunday's video. It was arguably the most pro-union statement the US president has made in decades. But here's the real litmus test for Biden, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. The Pro Act is the most sweeping pro-labor legislation in decades. It would effectively end anti-union right to work laws currently on the books in 28 states, institute financial penalties on employers that retaliate against workers who organize, prohibit employers captive audience meetings, require employers to bargain a first contract in good faith, repeal the prohibition on secondary boycotts, an instrument of worker solidarity banned since the late 1940s, and bar employers from permanently replacing strikers. So again, I don't want to detract from what Joe Biden did, because what he did was really, really powerful. However, as the president, using your bully pulpit is just one of the many tools at your disposal to promote labor rights. To pass the pro act would be the next step to really actually in a concrete way make sure that you put the words that you said in that video into practice. And the words that he said were phenomenal. Like that's a huge boost to the workers in Alabama who are currently trying to unionize. So look, we have to see how this plays out. It's going to be a fight Amazon is doing everything in their power to influence and even bully the people in best summer Alabama that work at their warehouse to vote no on this union. But hopefully with efforts like Joe Biden endorsing this union and actual organizing and advocacy by allies, this can actually be accomplished and start a really positive pro union trend in America. So I hope everyone is following the story because this is really crucial and it could be a game changer.