In a somewhat surprising move, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida last week announced his support for a unionization effort at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama.
In an op-ed column in the USA Today last Friday, Rubio said he "stands with those at Amazon's Bessemer warehouse."
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"The days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over," Rubio wrote. "Here's my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy — I support the workers.
Rubio also posted a video making similar comments about what he apparently perceives as hypocrisy among Amazon's management.
"For decades, companies like Amazon have been allies of the left in the culture war," he said in the video clip. "But when their bottom line is threatened they turn to conservatives to save them."
In attacking Amazon's labor practices, Rubio also cited his memories as a young boy walking a picket line with his father, who was a hotel bartender in Las Vegas. Rubio has said his experience instilled in him the belief that "all workers deserve respect" and that Amazon views its employees as "cog in a machine."
Amazon was quick to respond to Rubio's criticism.
"When Senator Rubio says Amazon is "waging war on working class values," does he mean our $15 starting wage, comprehensive benefits, or the paid parental leave we provide for hourly workers? If he stands with American workers like he says he does, he should endorse Senator Sanders' minimum wage bill toda," a spokesperson said.
Rubio earlier this month voted against Sanders's measure to raise the minimum wage to $15,00.
Last month, close to 6,000 workers at Amazon's Bessemer FC began voting by mail on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, in a process that will end in late March. (See Amazon Workers in Alabama begin Voting to Form Union.)
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 If successful, the union drive would result in the first organized Amazon facility in the US, though a number of Amazon FCs in Europe are unionized.
The Amazon representative also said the company doesn't believe the union organizers represent a majority of its employees' views: "Our employees choose to work at Amazon because we offer some of the best jobs available everywhere we hire, and we encourage anyone to compare our total compensation package, health benefits and workplace environment to any other company with similar jobs," Amazon said.
The Bessemer FC just opened in March of 2020.
Rubio's backing of the unionization drive of Amazon warehouse employees in Bessemer marks a uncommon example of GOP support for organized labor, with frequent positions that unions are harmful to business.
However, in his column Rubio also called for "a more productive relationship" between labor and businesses. He said that union-supported legislation like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which passed the Democratic-led House last week, "would essentially mandate adversarial relations between labor and management."
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