Amazon challenges hundreds of ballots in Alabama workers' union drive

[Omaha Steve]

Source: The Guardian

Election will determine if workers in Bessemer will form the first labor union at an Amazon warehouse in the US

Amazon has challenged hundreds of ballots in a vote to form a union at one of its warehouses in Alabama in a unionization drive seen as one of the most important labor fights in recent American history.

The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday began to open the ballots and start tabulating votes in the election in Bessemer, Alabama.

Some 3,215 votes were cast in the election out of more than 5,800 eligible employees. The election will determine if workers in Bessemer will form the first labor union at an Amazon warehouse in the US.

According to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, hundreds of ballots were challenged, mostly by Amazon.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/08/amazon-alabama-workers-union-drive

[AllyCat]

1. Taking a page out of the conservative playbook?

Challenging ballots. Of course.

[jimfields33]

2. The weird one is checking to see if they are eligible by their first day of work date

I’d think if they got a ballot sent to them they must be valid.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

3. My union requires you be a paying member for 6 month before you can vote.

It is in our rules.

[jimfields33]

5. Ah. Thank you.

Probably a good rule but this is so important that I wish they would have given a break on this rule for this one vote.

[PSPS]

7. How can you be a paying member in a non-union shop?

I can see how a union can have an "agency shop" agreement with an employer where non-union employees may still have to pay union dues (because they still benefit from the union contract,) but I think Amazon has no such agreement with any union at all. Hence, such a requirement would be a non sequitur.

[FailureToCommunicate]

9. Good point!

[OneCrazyDiamond]

10. I don't work for Amazon, but here there is a probationary period. 6 months.

[PSPS]

11. Probationary period for what? I think you're thinking of something else.

I can see a 6-month probation after being hired to get/do things like vacation, benefits, etc. Union contracts are a different matter and, in the case with Amazon, there is no union at all (that's why they're voting.)

[OneCrazyDiamond]

15. A 6 month probation period to vote on the Union Contract.

You have to have payed dues for 6 prior months in order to be eligible to vote on the contract.

One year, management wanted to push us to PPACA healthcare plans. They convinced a bunch of non-union part time employees to sign up for the union and vote for the cheaper plan (PT employees have to take the same insurance as full time. It is very expensive if part time). The vote would have passed, but the PT votes were invalided. When the rest of the Full Timers found out, they all showed to the vote and the PPACA plans were off the table.

Most of the Part Timers cancelled their memberships the next month.

Don't get me started on the Janus decision.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

4. Doesn't age well:

"The ability to vote is one of the most prized fundamental rights in our American democracy, and Amazon supports policies that protect and expand those rights." Amazon exec Jay Carney

[apnu]

6. I don't understand Amazon's problem here, they are unionized everywhere else on the planet.

They can't have the huge warehouses and data centers all over the globe and escape unionization. In Europe alone, most Amazon workers, regardless of job (tech or warehouse/delivery) are unionized. Its very common for the company to live with this. I have a friend who works for Amazon as a hiring manager, he's constantly touting Amazon's global unionization numbers to me.

So what gives with North American Amazon execs? They're being assholes here.

[PSPS]

8. How republican of them. Will they bring on giu911ni to litigate?

[rickyhall]

12. So Bezos is fine with free elections unless it's for unionization in his company. Hummmm...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. Votes against Amazon union lead after first day of ballot counting

Votes against forming a union at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, lead by a more than 2-1 margin after the first day of counting ballots.

The National Labor Relations Board paused its public counting of Amazon employees' ballots shortly after 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday with the anti-union votes leading 1,100 to 463.

The NLRB plans to resume counting ballots again on Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

While the remaining ballots are likely to be counted Friday, it could take the NLRB several weeks to announce the official outcome of the vote due to likely challenges from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union - the labor group under which Amazon's Bessemer employees would unionize if the vote passes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/votes-against-amazon-union-lead-after-first-day-of-ballot-counting/ar-BB1frVJj

If that's accurate the challenge may not matter.

[LymphocyteLover]

14. Looks like unionization failed, which is damn sad

Unless a lot of pro-votes suddenly appear. I don't get why any worker would vote against it