In This Article:
(Bloomberg) -- A U.S. representative from Yonkers stood outside Amazon.com Inc.’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, on Friday blasting Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos for hiding inside the sprawling facility while he and other politicians waited outside.
“He has members of Congress out here right now, at his plant where he is physically located,” Jamaal Bowman said on a video shared on Twitter, suggesting the world’s wealthiest man was avoiding a conversation about pay and working conditions. A day later, the video had been shared more than 400 times and garnered more than 1,800 likes.
There was just one problem. Bezos wasn’t in the building. He wasn’t even in Alabama, according to people familiar with his whereabouts. Instead, Bezos was 2,000 miles (3,200 km) away touring a rocket-building company in Southern California. (A Bowman spokeswoman declined to say why the representative thought Bezos was in the building.)
The post-truth age has landed with a thud in Bessemer, where Amazon employees are deciding if they want union representation amid a cascade of conflicting claims, conspiracy theories and fake news. The contest between the world’s largest e-commerce company and the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union is one of the most consequential in a generation, and a union victory could upend Amazon’s U.S. operations.
As such, it has all the ingredients of a high-stakes election. A glaring media spotlight. Cameos from out-of-town celebrities. Airwaves clogged with advertisements, and mailboxes stuffed with pamphlets.
Amid the glare and noise, Amazon workers are struggling to sort fact from fiction—a reflection in part of a nation that spent recent years inhaling the serial fabrications of former President Donald Trump. Whether they’re for the union, against it or undecided, several employees interviewed by Bloomberg say they’re exhausted and confused by the onslaught of information—be it from Amazon, the union or outsiders keen to influence the election’s outcome.
A new mailbox installed outside the Bessemer warehouse—along with texts from Amazon encouraging workers to use it to vote—fueled a conspiracy theory that the company was looking to snatch up ballots before the count. Some pro-union workers say they deliberately mailed ballots from home or took them directly to the post office themselves.
Amazon says it’s simply trying to make it convenient for employees to participate. But the location also lets the company keep an eye on who is using the mailbox and what they’re putting in it, providing grist for critics who point to reports that Amazon has long monitored organized labor.