EXPLAINER: What to know about the Amazon union vote count

Amazon is known for quick delivery. But finding out whether Amazon warehouse workers voted for or against unionizing is going to take some more time.

The final day for the nearly 6,000 workers in Bessemer, Alabama, to cast their ballots was more than a week ago. But it could still take a few more days — or longer — to review and tally all the votes before the outcome is known.

The vote itself has garnered national attention because of the potentially wide-reaching implications. Labor organizers hope a win in Bessemer will inspire thousands of workers nationwide — and not just at Amazon — to consider unionizing. For Amazon, it would mean a big blow to its profits and could alter its business operations.

Here’s what we know about the vote:

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WHAT DO ORGANIZERS WANT?

Besides higher pay, they want Amazon to give warehouse workers more break time and to be treated with respect. Many complain about their back-breaking 10-hour workdays with only two 30-minute breaks. Workers are on their feet for most of that time, packing boxes, shelving products or unpacking goods that arrive in trucks.

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WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW?

Labor historians point to two reasons, the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Workers feel betrayed by employers who didn’t do enough to protect them from the virus. At the start of the pandemic, for example, Amazon workers held walkouts because they said they weren’t given protective gear or told when coworkers tested positive for the virus.

The Black Lives Matter movement, meanwhile, has inspired people to demand to be treated with respect and dignity. Most of the workers in the Bessemer warehouse are Black, according to organizers.

The last time Amazon workers tried to unionize was in 2014, when a small group of mechanics working...