Vote counting is set to begin in an election to determine whether Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, will form a union in what is viewed as one of the biggest and most consequential unionization drives in recent America history... If successful, the warehouse would be the first union at Amazon in the US, as many Amazon workers in Europe are already unionized.

... The results could take a while to be finally counted and the process could be legally fraught. The NLRB said it will not have an estimate for how long the vote count will take until counting begins. The union estimated it will take about a week for results. During the vote count, the union and Amazon will have the opportunity to challenge the veracity of ballots and file objections within five business days of the vote count.

... Amazon aggressively opposed the union organizing efforts at the Bessemer warehouse, encouraging workers to vote “no” in the election through posters, signs, mailings, a website, texts, ads, captive audience meetings, and hired union avoidance consultants at nearly $10,000 per day ahead of the election. Under the Pro Act, a labor law reform bill supported by Democrats and labor unions around the US, employers would be prohibited from forcing workers into captive audience meetings, and fines would significantly be increased for labor law violations... According to the RWDSU, hundreds of Amazon workers around the US have reached out to the union during the Alabama organizing effort with interests to start union organizing within their workplaces.

... An Amazon spokesperson said in an email: “We don’t believe the RWDSU represents the majority of our employees’ views. Our employees choose to work at Amazon because we offer some of the best jobs available everywhere we hire, and we encourage anyone to compare our total compensation package, health benefits, and workplace environment to any other company with similar jobs.”