| Amazon workers reject unionizing in a controversial vote; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies at 99. Tonight's Sentences was written by Greg Svirnovskiy. | | | | | | | Alabama Amazon workers reject a unionization effort in after the corporation wins a messaging battle | | | | | | - Amazon claimed victory in a historic unionization battle in its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, after a majority of plant workers voted not to organize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The vote was the first of its size against Amazon; the corporation fought unionization efforts viciously, employing what labor activists deemed to be intimidation tactics and subversive messaging in the lead-up to the February and March vote. [Vox / Jason Del Rey]
- Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the unionization push happened in Bessemer. Alabama is a right-to-work state, famous for a history of anti-labor sentiment. And Amazon pays its workers double the state's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. [WSJ / Roque Ruiz and David Marino-Nachison]
- But workers grew weary of how they were treated. Lunch is a strict 30 minutes. Coming back late can result in docked pay or firings. It's a grueling job, one that keeps employers on their feet for the majority of a 10-hour shift. Trips to the bathroom are monitored. Critics also say Amazon failed to accommodate workers' needs during the pandemic. [AP / Joseph Pisani]
- After some warehouse workers reached out to the RWDSU in the summer of 2020, citing draconian productivity standards and a desire to be given more workplace autonomy, the union quickly organized. Several months later, according to the union, more than half of the Bessemer warehouse workers had signed cards affirming a union vote. [Guardian / Michael Sainato]
- Alabama is a decidedly anti-union state, home to the only non-unionized Mercedes-Benz factory in the world. But Bessemer has a history of labor organizing. It's a predominantly Black town, and many saw the vote not only as a labor rights struggle but also as one rooted in civil rights. [NPR / Alina Selyukh]
- Amazon drew ire for the messaging it used in the runup to voting: "Do it without dues." Workers ran into that slogan in bathroom stalls, at mandatory meetings, and in text messages. Because Alabama is a right-to-work state, union members don't need to pay dues to take part in benefits. The company also pushed the United States Postal Service to install a special post box inside the warehouse to collect ballots, which labor leaders called an intimidation tactic and a violation of National Labor Relations Board laws. [NYT / Karen Weise and Michael Corkery]
- RWDSU president Stuart Applebaum announced the union would be challenging the results, calling Amazon's actions "egregious and blatantly illegal"; a challenge could result in a new election. The NLRB could also overturn the vote, giving workers access to a union whose help they just rejected. [CNBC / Annie Palmer]
| | | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies at 99 | | - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died Friday at Windsor Castle. He was 99 years old and had been married to Queen Elizabeth II for 73 years. The pair had four children, including Prince Charles, who sits next in line for the throne. The royal family announced the duke's death Friday on Twitter. [NBC News / Rachel Elbaum]
- The duke had been in poor health since the New Year. He spent much of February and March in the hospital, first being treated for an infection and later undergoing heart surgery. He was discharged back to Windsor Castle in mid-March. [CNN / Max Foster and Laura Said-Moorhouse]
- He leaves behind a complicated legacy; some credit him with helping to modernize the monarchy, though he often faced criticism in the press for remarks deemed insensitive or even racist. [NYT / Marilyn Berger]
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled a planned celebratory public pint as pubs reopened Friday after yet another lockdown in Britain. "He took an ethic of service," Johnson said of the duke. "That he applied throughout the unprecedented changes of the post-war era. Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life." [BBC]
| | | | | | | Fauci: It's "almost a race between vaccinations and the surge" as Covid cases continue to grow in the US. | | | [CNN / Madeline Holcomb and Dakin Andone] - Rep. Matt Gaetz faces more legal trouble, with two Venmo transactions uncovered by the Daily Beast appearing to confirm the Republican Congress member paid for sex with an 18-year-old. Today, a first GOP member of Congress called on Gaetz to resign. [CNN / Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, and Evan Perez]
- La Soufriere, a volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, erupted Friday after a week of particularly abnormal activity caused state authorities to evacuate much of the surrounding region. This eruption, following a burst of activity first observed in December 2020, was the volcano's first since 1979. [Reuters / Robertson S. Henry]
- American economists and financial titans expect the economy to boom at levels not seen since 1946, as growing vaccination rates allow people to emerge from their shells and massive government spending from Presidents Trump and Biden greases the wheels. Goldman Sachs expects the American economy to grow by a stunning 8 percent this year. [Axios / Felix Salmon and Mike Allen]
- There are more vaccines than takers in Mississippi, underscoring that vaccine reluctance may be another barrier to ending the pandemic in the United States. [NYT / Andrew Jacobs]
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