One lastAmazon’s ditch attempt to postpone a vote on unionization at one of its largest warehouses has failed, paving the way for the first serious effort to organize workers at the technology giant since a failed attempt in Delaware in 2014.
On Friday, the National Labor Relations Board stated that nearly 6,000 workers at the company’s call center in Bessemer, Alabama, could use email voting to determine if the hub will join Retail, Wholesale and Warehouses Union (RWDSU). In doing so, the agency rejected objections that Amazon had previously filed with them regarding the union campaign.
Workers originally Filed from the right a vote on unionization last November and NLRB later granted them that right. However, Amazon quickly sought to halt and delay this scenario, Filing an appeal in January who questioned the bureau’s original decision. The technology giant also asked that, instead of voting by mail, workers participate in a live vote on the spot, despite the health risks related to the pandemic.
In its decision on Friday, however, the NLRB said that the petition to vote on unionization “does not raise substantial issues that warrant a review” and could continue. The agency also rejected Amazon’s attempt to force a personal vote. As a result of the decision, Bessemer workers will be able to start voting for the initiative next Monday, February 8, and continue until March 29.
G / O Media can receive a commission
Amazon’s fights with attempts to organize work occurred across the country– and their tactics to stop and discourage such efforts have often involved draconian surveillance of activists and officials, Including hiring Pinkterton detectives, Among other things.
In the midst of all this, Bessemer has emerged as a key pressure point in the tech giant’s labor management conflicts. Local activism helped galvanize the pressure by expanded protections, although the company made a great effort to dissuade workers. this it was recently reported that Bessemer employees were being pulled into “advertising” sessions, in which managers tried to “sow doubts about the union movement.” This may not be surprising, considering that there is a lot at stake in this vote. Like Bloomberg Reports:
A defeat for the union would affect the reputation of the labor movement, which has repeatedly failed to organize workers into America’s second largest private employer, after Walmart. The union’s victory, on the other hand, would provide a tactical roadmap for the hundreds of thousands of people working on Amazon’s premises.
“Once again, Amazon workers won another fight in their effort to win the voice of the union,” said Chelsea Connor, director of communications for RWDSU, after the NLRB decision. “Amazon’s blatant disregard for the health and safety of its own workforce was demonstrated once again by its insistence on a personal election in the midst of the pandemic. Today’s decision proves that it is past time for Amazon to start respecting its own employees; and allow them to vote without intimidation and interference. “
When contacted by email on Friday, Amazon spokesman Heather Knox said the company was “disappointed” by the NLRB decision and said that voting by mail would decrease participation: “Our goal is for as many employees as possible to vote and we are disappointed with the NLRB’s decision not to provide the most fair and effective format for achieving maximum employee participation, ”said Knox in a statement. She also said that postal voting would be less effective than what Amazon had planned as an alternative: the “secure on-site electoral process validated by covid19 experts who would have enabled our associates to vote on their way to, during, and your already scheduled shifts. “
Somehow, voting while you run back and forth between companiesdesignated tasks – in a possible “super propagator event, ”Nothing less – it doesn’t seem as effective as voting from the comfort of your home. In fact, instead of seeing this as an attempt to increase voter turnout, some may even interpret it as a way of deterring it.