Official Says Amazon Union Voting at Alabama Warehouse Needs to Be Reworked


A hearing officer for the National Labor Relations Board recommended that the board rescind the union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Results Announced in early April, it showed workers rejecting the union by more than two-to-one.

The union announced the recommendation on Monday, and Amazon quickly said it would take steps to ensure the original election result prevailed.

The hearing officer’s recommendation, which includes holding a new election, will be reviewed by the agency’s acting district manager, who will decide on the case in the coming weeks. If the district manager decides against Amazon, the company can appeal to the Washington work board.

With more than 5,000 eligible workers, the union campaign at the warehouse was the highest-profile local organizing effort ever on Amazon with a history. aggressively deterrent labor activism

Challenged by the Union, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Syndicate, it accused Amazon of unfair labor practices to prevent workers from unionizing.

“During the NLRB hearing, we heard convincing evidence that Amazon was trying to unlawfully interfere and intimidate workers trying to exercise their right to unionize,” union president Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. “We support the hearing officer’s recommendation that the NLRB set aside the election results and run a new election.”

The union first filed paperwork for the election in November, and voting was done by mail between early February and late March.

During the campaign, the union frequently complained that the company intimidated and threatened workers.

Amazon has disputed the charges and continues to do so.

“Our employees had a chance to be heard at a noisy time when all voices weighed on the national debate, and at the end of the day they overwhelmingly voted in favor of direct contact with their managers,” an Amazon spokesperson said. in a statement on Monday. “Their voices must be heard above all else, and we plan to make an appeal to ensure that happens.”

Wilma B. Liebman, chair of President Barack Obama’s work committee, said district managers typically follow the advice of trial officers in these situations.

About a week after the labor board announced the results in April, the union filed a formal objection to the running of the elections and asked the board to overturn the decision. An official from the board held hearings for three weeks, during which both sides called and questioned witnesses.

The union objection is that Amazon consultants and employee relations managers identify workers and remove them from mandatory anti-union meetings if they question company officials, and if employees do, a union is formed.

The union also claimed that Amazon advisers and managers asked workers how to vote illegally, and that Amazon fired a union supporter for handing out union cards. It was stated that the company took various measures to reduce the pressure on the union, such as increasing salaries and distributing goods. This it is illegal to start taking such steps once a union campaign is being run.

Syndicate appeal centered heavily on an onsite collection box that Amazon offers. pressed many times The US Postal Service will be established shortly before voting begins. The union said the box was not authorized by the labor relations board. Amazon said it’s pushing the box to make it easier for employees to vote, and that workers don’t have access to ballots placed.

The union argued that the presence of the collection box gave workers the impression that Amazon was watching who voted and possibly even how they voted.

It is unclear whether the union’s performance will improve if re-elections are held. Labor law allows companies to hold frequent mandatory anti-union meetings, and Mr Appelbaum, head of retail workers, said: aforementioned The high turnover at the warehouse was a major obstacle to the union campaign.



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