Alabama Warehouse Workers on Track to Reject Forming Amazon's First US Union
By Michael Sainato, Guardian UK
09 April 21
I'm flagging the Amazon union vote in Bessemer as highly suspicious. The
overarching question is, why would any Amazon employee vote against
unionizing, period? Let alone at a 2-1 ratio. That totally defies logic. But
it would also be nice to know more about how and why Amazon is challenging
so many votes. NLRB and Justice Department investigators need to get in the
game here. - MA/RSN
Results have not yet been finalized, but workers so far have voted 1,100-463
against forming a union at the Bessemer facility
Vote counting kicked off on Thursday in a consequential unionization drive
at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, an effort seen as one of the most
important labor fights in recent American history.
While results have not yet been finalised, it appeared Thursday evening that
warehouse workers were on track to reject unionization by a 2-1 margin, with
almost half the votes counted. Vote counting will resume Friday morning.
Of the received ballots, workers so far have voted 1,100-463 against forming
a union at the warehouse in Bessemer. The election will determine if workers
in Bessemer will form the first labor union at an Amazon warehouse in the
US.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which is
organizing the Bessemer workers, said that 3,215 votes were sent in - about
55% of the nearly 6,000 workers who were eligible to vote. The union said
hundreds of those votes were contested, mostly by Amazon. The union would
not specify how many votes were being contested.
Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the RWDSU, struck a grim tone Thursday in
a statement ahead of the results: "Our system is broken, Amazon took full
advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labor board to hold Amazon
accountable for its illegal and egregious behavior during the campaign. But
make no mistake about it; this still represents an important moment for
working people and their voices will be heard."
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency overseeing the
election, is conducting the vote count in Birmingham, Alabama. The NLRB set
up multiple cameras so participants and media could watch its agents count
the votes.
Many observers expect the huge amount of challenged ballots to lead to a
delay in any formal announcement of a result.
"There remain hundreds of challenged ballots mostly by the employer that
will need to be addressed after the public count. As the ballot envelopes
are opened and the ballots are counted there's a possibility that more
issues could impact the final results," the RWDSU said.
The unionization drive has sparked huge political interest and a roster of
leftwing politicians - and even some Republicans - have spoken out in
support of it or visited the state. The US labor movement sees it as a
bellwether case for hopes of expanding its power, especially in areas of the
economy - such as online retail - that are increasingly dominant.
Ballots in the vote can be challenged based on several factors, such as the
eligibility of the voter in regards to job classification or dates of
employment. The NLRB will probably hold a later hearing on the validity of
the challenged ballots, after unchallenged ballots are tallied, if the
number of challenged ballots could affect the outcome of the election.
The union organizing drive in Bessemer grew from a 51-year-old warehouse
worker, Darryl Richardson, contacting the RWDSU in June last year with
interest in starting to organize a union at the warehouse. A former union
member in his previous job in the auto industry, Richardson's excitement to
start the job months earlier quickly dissipated after witnessing co-workers
face termination over productivity quotas, and seeing how wages lagged far
behind the pay he received in the auto industry.
Richardson and other workers managed to obtain more than 3,000 union
authorization cards, enough for the NLRB to determine the union had enough
support to conduct an election. The union initially proposed a bargaining
unit of 1,500 workers, which was later expanded to about 5,800 workers at
the behest of Amazon.
Ballots for the union election were mailed out to eligible workers on 8
February and workers were given until 29 March to mail in completed ballots
to the NLRB.
Depending on the outcome of the vote, other legal challenges or objections
could further delay the official results. The election counting process has
taken as long as it has due to the challenged ballot process and the large
size of the eligible bargaining unit.
