After the vote count was announced Thursday, the outcome of the election to unify Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse was still on the line. The total stands at 993 votes against unions and 875 in favour; but 416 ballots remain contested, mostly on the grounds of voter eligibility.
The National Labor Relations Board will hold a hearing in the coming weeks to determine whether any of the contested votes should be counted. After that, it will release a final count that will determine which party wins the election.
Meanwhile, the Amazon Labor Union is leading an election to unify a warehouse on Staten Island, expected to be completed tomorrow.
The election was held again in March after the union lost its original votes of 1,798 to 738 last year, and Amazon was later found to have violated labor law by installing a mailbox on the property and using “vote no” paraphernalia to target employees. to gauge.
The gap between yes and no votes has narrowed significantly this year, but so far not enough to change the outcome. About 2,300 of the 6,100 eligible voters cast their votes this year, a turnout of 38 percent. This was a decrease from last year’s turnout rate of 52 percent.
The union has filed suit against unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board and has until April 7 to appeal the election. If the board determines that Amazon’s behavior stands in the way of a free and fair election, it could reverse the results again, leading to a third round of elections. The charges include allegations that Amazon made a rule change restricting employees’ access to the facility during non-working hours, and that it removed pro-union flyers from break areas. The company denies these claims.
The vote rounds out a two-year effort that caught the attention of Congress, the endorsement of celebrities, a presidential statement and renewed focus on U.S. labor law, which favors employers in union elections. It echoed far beyond a single warehouse. As one of the world’s largest employers and the second largest in the US, Amazon is seen as setting the standard for working conditions across all industries. Many in the labor movement see unionization as essential to ending what they describe as a harsh work environment. Amazon, for its part, urged its employees to vote against the union, saying it already offers everything workers demand.
In a statement about the Bessemer facility, which Amazon calls “BHM1,” company spokesperson Kelly Nantel wrote: “We invest in both pay and benefits for our team — regular full-time BHM1 employees earn at least $15.80 an hour and have access to healthcare on day one, a 401k with company match and more.”
The effort began humbly enough. In 2020, a warehouse worker named Darryl Richardson, who had previously been a union member at an auto factory, conducted a Google search for a union that could represent Amazon workers. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) popped up in the results, so he filled out a form on its website.
This post Amazon Union Elections Missed Out As Ballots Are Challenged
was original published at “https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-union-elections-bessemer”