US president Joe Biden is saying things Amazon doesn’t want to hear

For a few minutes Sunday night, President Joe Biden sounded a little like a union leader. “Unions put power in the hands of workers,” he said in a video statement of support for the union drive at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. “They level the playing field. They give you a stronger voice for your health, your safety, higher wages, protections from racial discrimination and sexual harassment. Unions lift up workers, both union and nonunion, but especially Black and Brown workers.”

Biden also spoke directly to employers who might try to subvert or sabotage an organizing drive. “There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda. No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences. Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union. The law guarantees that choice. And it’s your right, not that of an employer, it’s your right.”