Skip to main content

Updated: Petition Withdrawn to Hold Election at New Jersey Amazon Warehouse


Ironically, on the same day I posted an article last week which noted that an election was set to be held at a New Jersey Amazon warehouse, the union that sought to hold the election withdrew its petition from the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).

For a bit of background here, Local 713 of the International Brotherhood of Trade Unions had sought to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Bayonne, New Jersey.  In doing so, they had obtained 30% of signatures from eligible workers at the warehouse and filed their petition with the NLRB to have an election held.  While it appeared that the NLRB would set the election date, the union last week requested to withdraw its petition.  The NLRB indicated it would accept the withdrawal request and therefore no election will be held at this time. 

The timing of this withdrawal is a bit odd.  Give the momentum that workers suddenly have, in regard to unionization at places such as Starbucks, REI, and Amazon, now would be as good of a time as any to hold an election.  However, there were some rumblings about alleged unsavory ties that the union has which might have been grounds for the withdrawal of the petition.  These allegations only recently came to light which had started to pick up some unwanted media coverage.

What is next here?  Will another unionization push take place?  I suspect things will cool for a bit here but believe it is certainly possible (if not probable) that a renewed unionization effort is not far off at this Amazon warehouse.


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

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
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