Skip to main content

Breaking: Amazon Employees At Alabama Location Vote Against Unionization

 

No sooner do I post the What I’ve Been Reading This Week note a little while ago do I see a breaking news headline come across my phone that the Amazon employees at the Bessemer, Alabama location have voted against unionization.

The 1,798 - 738 vote against unionization is a striking blow to labor leaders who had started to believe that they could use the first unionization of a U.S. Amazon location as a springboard to unionizing other Amazon locations across the country.  Those plans are likely on hold given the resounding defeat in Alabama.

It is worth noting that while approximately 6,000 workers at the Amazon location were eligible to vote, only approximately half actually did so.  Readers will remember that there had been about 500 ballots that were challenged.  As the result of the election is not determinative on those 500 ballots, any challenge to those will not be heard at this time.

What is next?  For starters, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (who sought to unionize the Amazon location) have indicated they will ask the National Labor Relations Board to set aside the results on the grounds that Amazon “created an atmosphere” that interfered “with the employees’ freedom of choice.”  I would not necessarily hold my breath on the results being set aside, barring some smoking gun evidence that comes to light against Amazon.  As with a similar union defeat at a Tennessee Volkswagen a few years ago, maybe labor advocates will wait and give it another try here.

As well, do not forget that while the President Joe Biden administration voiced support for unionization, the administration did not dive head first and throw its weight beyond the unionization efforts.  Whether the writing was on the wall and the administration did not want to risk losing any political sway or whether the administration simply wanted to stay above the fray, this election defeat should temper expectations of a massive organized labor renaissance for the time being.


For additional information:  https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/09/amazon-alabama-union-drive-defeat-480581

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more