Peter Endig | AFP | Getty Images
Amazon lost in its attempt to postpone a closely watched union vote at its Bessemer, Alabama-based warehouse.
Last month, Amazon appealed the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision to allow about 6,000 warehouse workers to vote in the mail about joining the Retail, Wholesale and Warehouses Union. In its appeal, Amazon asked the NLRB to review aspects of its previous decision and pushed for a personal election, citing flaws in the agency’s definition of what constitutes a coronavirus outbreak.
On Friday, the NLRB denied Amazon’s appeal, saying it “did not raise substantive issues that warrant revision”.
“The employer’s motion to suspend the review of the pending election was also denied as debatable,” according to a document.
In denying Amazon’s appeal, the NLRB will allow Amazon workers at the Alabama warehouse to start voting by mail, as planned, starting next week. Workers will launch their ballots from 8 February. Ballots must be received by the NLRB regional office by March 29, then the board will begin counting ballots from 10 am CT the next day.
The decision starts what will be the first major union effort on Amazon since 2014, when repair technicians at a Delaware warehouse failed to garner enough votes to form a union. However, since then, protests linked to Prime Day and other events, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, have laid the foundation for increased organizational efforts among some parts of its workforce across the country.
The union effort in Alabama emerged as a protracted labor battle at Amazon, with the company hiring the same law firm that used to assist in negotiations during the 2014 union campaign in Delaware.
Amazon also set up a website to announce its position in the Alabama warehouse union, urging workers to “do it without fees”, referring to the cost of membership when joining a union. In recent weeks, there has been increased communication with workers at the Bessemer warehouse about the union, known as BHM1, including through mandatory meetings, distribution of pamphlets throughout the facility and sending text messages.
In a statement, RWDSU President Stuart Applebaum announced the NLRB’s decision as a victory in the Amazon workers’ struggle to organize and criticized Amazon’s effort to hold a personal election as a threat to his health and safety amid pandemic.
“Once again, Amazon workers won another fight in their effort to win the voice of the union,” Applebaum said in a statement. “Today’s decision proves that it’s past time for Amazon to start respecting its own employees and allowing them to vote without intimidation and interference.”
Amazon representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.