Amazon announces new Alabama warehouse after union defeat

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Amazon announced plans for a new warehouse that will bring more than 500 jobs to north Alabama just weeks after workers at another company facility in the state soundly defeated a push for unionization.

The company said the 1 million-square-foot (93,000-square-meter) order fulfillment center would be built near a new Mazda Toyota vehicle factory that’s being constructed west of Huntsville in Limestone County.

“Amazon employees will pick, pack, and ship bulky or larger-sized customer items such as patio furniture, outdoor equipment, or rugs,” Owen Torres, a company spokesperson, said in a statement Tuesday.

Amazon already has warehouses near Mobile and in suburban Birmingham, where employees last month voted decisively against forming a union to cut off a drive that labor activists had hoped would lead to similar efforts throughout the company.

The union push at Bessemer, located just west of Birmingham, was the biggest in the 26-year history of the online seller and only the second time that an organizing move from within the company had come to a vote.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up