Amazon is facing the consequences for playing dirty.
The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced Monday that Amazon workers in the company's Bessemer, Alabama warehouse would be allowed to re-vote on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
Workers initially held the vote in April, and voted against unionizing by a wide margin. However, soon after, the RWDSU sued Amazon for illegally interfering in the vote by intimidating employees.
The NLRB agreed(opens in a new tab) in August that Amazon had violated labor law, and recommended a re-vote then – but the director did not make that decision official until Monday. Union organizers saw the authorization to re-vote as a further rebuke of Amazon and a second chance for employees.
“Today’s decision confirms what we were saying all along – that Amazon’s intimidation and interference prevented workers from having a fair say in whether they wanted a union in their workplace – and as the Regional Director has indicated, that is both unacceptable and illegal," Stuart Applebaum, the RWDSU president, said in a statement. "Amazon workers deserve to have a voice at work, which can only come from a union.”
The RWDSU alleged that Amazon inundated its workers with anti-union messaging, making them attend mandatory meetings about why unionizing was not in their interest. Amazon placed a mailbox at the warehouse during the vote, which the RWDSU said gave the impression that Amazon was monitoring the vote, intimidating workers.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel called the decision "disappointing" and reiterated that Amazon doesn't think unionizing is best for employees.
“Our employees have always had the choice of whether or not to join a union, and they overwhelmingly chose not to join the RWDSU earlier this year," Nantel said in a statement sent via email. "It’s disappointing that the NLRB has now decided that those votes shouldn’t count."
The Bessemer vote covered some 6,000+ Amazon workers, and just over 3,200 cast ballots in April. Despite the result, some saw the vote as a bellwether for other unionization drives around the country. Worker advocates said at the time that the fact that workers organized as much as they did amid classic union-busting tactics from Amazon showed that the movement had promise.
UPDATE: Nov. 29, 2021, 4:20 p.m. PST This article was updated to include a statement from Amazon.
