In the final week of the most-watched union drive in recent history, we take you to an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. Workers here will vote this week on whether to form Amazon’s first-ever union in the US, which could deal a blow to one of the world’s richest men and challenge the future of work as we know it. We meet with one of the workers leading that fight.

UPDATE: After this episode was published, Amazon responded to several of our questions and requests for comment. In part they told us that the company ensures every associate has easy access to toilet facilities. In addition to expressing concerns in the online portal, Amazon says employees can also call Amazon Ethics hotline or contact their manager or any member of the HR team. They also told us "it’s our business objective to ensure long-term career development opportunities for our employees."

This episode was reported by Lauren Kaori Gurley and Julia Nutter. 

Check out all of Lauren’s reporting on Amazon at VICE.com. 

Sound design and composition for this episode by Pran Bandi. 

VICE News Reports is produced by Jesse Alejandro Cottrell, Jen Kinney, Janice Llamoca and Julia Nutter. Our senior producers are Ashley Cleek and Adizah Eghan. Our associate producers are Sam Eagan, Sophie Kazis, and Adreanna Rodriguez. Sound Design and music composition by Steve Bone and Kyle Murdock. 

Our executive Producer and VP of Vice Audio is Kate Osborn. Janet Lee is Senior Production Manager for VICE Audio. Production coordination by Steph Brown. Fact Checking by Nicole Pasulka. 

Episode art by our host, Arielle Duhaime-Ross.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.