Amazon workers overwhelmingly vote against unionization

Workers at an Alabama Amazon distribution center voted against unionization. The vote wasn’t even close.

From NPR:

The vast majority of votes cast by Amazon’s workers in Bessemer, Ala., were against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in a stinging defeat of the union drive. The final tally showed 1,798 votes against unionizing and 738 votes in favor of the union.

This vote was a major blow against pro-union activists. Good. Hopefully, this sends a clear message that most Americans do not want to be in a union. I want democracy in the workplace like I want an extra hole in my head. When you work somewhere with a union that has been foisted upon you, there’s a whole extra layer of people telling you what to do. When an employer tells you what to do, it’s because they are paying you. When a union tells you what to do, you pay them for the pleasure. No thanks. I choose not to participate in this flawed, antiquated system.

I once applied for a unionized job

I once went through the interview process for an electronic technician that turned out to have a union. Like most labor unions, the union controlled fundamental aspects between the employer and the employee, including the starting wage. The amount of money I was offered to start was ridiculously low. I had experience and a two-year degree in electronics. The manager who offered me the position apologized but said that he could not offer more because of the collective bargaining agreement between the company and the union.

He explained that my pay would increase incrementally over time. The union prioritized seniority above all else. It meant that if I accepted the position, I would not make what I was making at my current job for another five years.

It’s possible that the person offering me the job was lying to me. I doubt that he was. If he were lying and I accepted the position, I would quickly figure out he was lying once I began working there.

I will never join a union

I will never work somewhere that is unionized. I refuse to allow any of my idiot coworkers to say what I make, the hours I work, or how I work. Those aspects of my employment should be between my employer and me and no one else.