Amazon Union Vote Fuels Fiery Rhetoric
- Hard-fought election began seven weeks ago and ends Monday
- Company denies workers, contract drivers urinate in bottles
Amazon Fulfillment Center in Bessemer, Alabama.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
As with any high-stakes election campaign, the rhetoric between Amazon.com Inc. and its opponents has been testy since workers at the company’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, began voting on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
Matters turned biological on Thursday, when a Democratic congressman revived an old charge that Amazon employees and contract drivers are worked so hard that they have to urinate in bottles. The company quickly denied that, only to see photos of allegedly pee-filled bottles show up online. Missing from the debate was the 2017 video of an Amazon driver defecating in a Sacramento, California, area driveway.