The COVID-19 epidemic can have at least a satisfactory effect: Amazon store workers in the city of Bessemer, in the southeast of the United States, have opened the way to syndication and, if they do, would be the first U.S. trade union. Thus, Jeff Bezos would become a new gap that emerged in the angry anti-syndicalism of the leader of Amazon, Pope Benjamin.

The Bessemer warehouse was opened in March last year. The coronavirus that appeared at the same time rapidly increased requests – between January and April 2020 the wealth of Bezos increased by 24 trillion dollars, increasing the turnover by 40% – and soon Bezos’ workers felt the need to collectively organize the workload and basic rights. In particular, with regard to the trade sector, it was easier for companies in the trade union environment to demand respect for fundamental rights: the purchase of masks and other protection measures during working hours. “Since then, more and more workers have seen the importance of the collective voice,” explains The New York Times, president of the RWDSU trade union, Stuart Appelbaum, who militates in the region.

For Amazon customers, last year’s Prime Day sales days, consolidated on 13 and 14 October, made the request to set up a trade union to the federal agency National Labor Relations Board unbearable. At the end of December, the National Assembly for Labour Relations concluded that, after the vote on the creation of a structure by 2,000 warehouse workers, there was a “good interest” in organizing it. Once the vote has begun, the decision to give an opinion on the establishment of the trade union will continue until 29 March.

In total, 5,800 workers are concentrated in the Bessemer warehouse, and there are 800,000 in the United States. United States working for Amazon, the second largest employer of EE.UU, the gigantic supermarket Wal-Mark, also known for its anti-syndicalism. It is clear that, in the absence of trade unions, they do not have collective agreements between employers and employees. Although the management has praised the “great salaries” distributed, in addition to that, they do not have the guarantee of the rights of workers who bring collective agreements. The New York Times article includes the note “What if you pay the $25 hour, if you don’t treat me well at the same time?”

The idea of creating a trade union in Bessemer would not serve the rest of the U.S. warehouses, but supporters say it can help root the idea of union. For that, they look from every corner of the United States to the Alabama workplace. Proof of this is the message disseminated on social media by popular Democrat Bernie Sanders: “They are in an anti-union state, they have to deal with the tough anti-union forces, but let it be clear: their triumph will benefit all workers in the United States. Proud to be by your side.”

The direction channels the pressure in favor of the

That is the case: militant personnel are facing organised machinery to prevent the creation of the union. “We don’t have a meeting to talk about the plague situation, but we do have forced meetings in which we hear how badly the unions are evil for us and the company,” says a warehouse worker from Bessemer to the AFP journalist.

The Directorate also knows that, if it wins the yes, the desire to avoid it collectively could be extended to adjacent warehouses. This is a work carried out in favour of no: the judicial route for the annulment of the vote by post – eventually rejected by the court – the creation of a website that channels propaganda against the trade unions and a clear message in favour of individualism www.doitwithoutdues.com, the pressure against those who are campaigning for, etc. He is sending a simplistic message against quotes: quoting you will lose money, better save this money and buy books and gifts. “Amazon sends me SMS messages, even in the workers’ rest rooms it has messages in favor of no, it transmits them to the bathrooms! Targeted propaganda is absolutely disproportionate,” says a worker who wants to keep the journalist in front of him anonymous.

Globally, Amazon has a workforce of 1.2 million people – an increase of 50% in 2020 following COVID-19, a daily average of 1,400 new hired workers, according to the area developpez.com – and unlike the United States, in some countries there are unions. Last October, twenty MEPs published in the Libération newspaper their column "No to Amazon's anti-union policy". “The exponential growth of Amazon’s benefits since the beginning of the pandemic does not allow you (speak of Jeff Bezos) to trample on legally protected basic principles,” you can read in the letter. In fact, it was then learned that Amazon wanted to use “analyst information” to avoid “threats” such as “terrorists”, “political groups critical to Amazon” or “labor organizations”.

In collaboration with the well-known spy agency Pinkerton

The union has in its sights those who have a fortune of 187 billion dollars. Also since the end of the 19th century it has called the spy agency Pinkerton National Detective Agency, specialized in the fight for workers' rights, without any kind of complex. These spies were at the base of the 1886 Haymarket massacre, which dates back to early May, when Pinkerton's spies denounced that the strikers' movement had infiltrated and provoked a bloody rappy. Several demonstrators were killed or detained on site and were led by the Police and Justice to the death penalty.

With the acquisition of various internal documents, the Motherboard media reported these hires. The monitoring of union meetings, the collection of concrete data on the protests – who, where, when and in what – as well as the monitoring of associations that channel actions against Amazon, were exposed to various illegal initiatives.

In this way, the gap would be the creation of the first union within the Amazon of the United States. In the same vein, last January the first Google employee union, the Alphabet Workers Union, was created. The oligarchs of GAFAME (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft) will find it increasingly difficult to put an end to the collective identity of the working class.