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Amazon Warehouse Workers Get Second Bite At the Apple In Union Election


Earlier this year, a union election was held at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.  That election was heavily contested by Amazon as the company sought to keep the plant workers from unionizing.  As readers might recall, the election did not work out well for those hoping to unionize the Amazon warehouse.  

After the election results were announced, a challenge was launched by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (which sought to unionize the warehouse) claiming the election results were tainted as Amazon improperly pressured workers to vote against unionizing by “gaslighting” workers through “egregious and blatantly illegal action.”  One major point of contention was Amazon’s decision to install a mail receptacle on the job premises to allow the workers to submit their ballots.  (After all, this was a mail in election rather than in person.)  In August, a hearing officer for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) found that Amazon violated federal labor law and recommended a new election take place.

As it turns out, that is exactly what is going to happen after the Regional Director for the NLRB last week issued a 20 page order affirming that Amazon violated federal labor law and ordering a second election take place.  In the order, the Regional Director noted that Amazon’s decision to place a mail receptacle at the job site could lead workers to thinking Amazon was trying to control the election process and that the election was not truly impartial.  Frankly, I think this reasoning is wrong as it seems to suggest that workers at the warehouse location could be easily “hoodwinked” into thinking that a mail receptacle at the job site meant that the employer was somehow commandeering the vote counting or election procedures.  I give the warehouse workers more credit in this case and think that many/most/if not all the workers likely did not correlate a mail receptacle at the job site to receive ballots meant that Amazon was “running the show.”

I digress though.  With this new election, the union will have another chance to unionize the Bessemer location.  While no date has been set (or whether this will be a mail in election, in person, or some sort of hybrid), I would pay close attention to this one in the coming weeks and months.


For additional information:  https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458350f488

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