Amazon seems headed toward a split-decision from elections at two of the company’s distribution centers in Staten Island, NY and Bessemer, AL which seek to unionize those depots.
On April 1, workers at an Amazon.com warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island voted to form the first union at the second-largest private U.S. employer (behind Walmart). However, the recent vote taken at the company’s fulfillment facility in Bessemer, AL is currently too close to call, but early results indicate that Amazon’s associates have again rejected organized labor’s efforts to unionize that large facility.
Workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Staten Island, which is known as JFK8, won a majority by voting 2,654 to 2,131 in support of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), which was about 55 percent in favor, according to a count released by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
“We’re disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees,” Amazon said in an April 1 statement. “We’re evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election.”
Assuming the vote clears any objections and the union is ultimately certified by NLRB, union negotiators will still have to bargain with Amazon in order to deliver on expectations of better compensation and working conditions that employees are seeking.
In Bessemer, when the voting ended on March 31, there were 993 “no” votes and 875 “yes” votes, with 59 voided votes and 416 contested votes, which mathematically are sufficient to change the result. There were about 200 fewer votes cast this year versus last year’s initial election. According to the NLRB, there will be a hearing within a few weeks to decide if any of the challenged ballots will be opened and counted.
“Every vote must be counted. Workers at Amazon endured a needlessly long and aggressive fight to unionize their workplace, with Amazon doing everything it could to spread misinformation and deceit. We will hold Amazon accountable, and we will be filing objections on their behavior,” Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) president Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement after the vote.
“Workers will have to wait just a little bit longer to ensure their voices are heard, and our union will be with them at every step to ensure their voices are heard under the law,” Appelbaum added. “What we do know is that this moment is historic, and the workers in Bessemer, AL have inspired working people all over the country and all over the world to fight for change at their workplaces, including other organizing at Amazon around the country.”
The election in Bessemer constituted the second time employees at that fulfillment center had weighed in on organizing. Last April, Amazon secured enough votes to defeat the unionization drive, seeming to deliver a blow to organized labor which had hoped to unionize a U.S. Amazon facility for the first time. However, RWDSU challenged the results and filed objections over Amazon’s election conduct with the NLRB, as well as a number of unfair labor practice charges, alleging that “Amazon interfered with the rights of its Bessemer, AL employees to vote in a free and fair election.” This year’s voter turnout
The initial effort in Bessemer was a protracted labor battle, with Amazon hiring the same law firm it used to assist with negotiations during a 2014 failed union drive in Delaware. Amazon made its position on the union campaign clear to workers at the Bessemer facility last year by holding mandatory meetings, setting up a website urging workers to “do it without dues” and distributing pamphlets instructing workers to “Vote NO” on the historic election.
RWDSU specifically called out a mailbox that was installed in front of the Bessemer facility, including claims that it was placed there by the U.S. Postal Service at the direction of Amazon. The company said the mailbox was intended to make it more convenient for workers to vote, adding that only the Postal Service had access to the mailbox.
Ultimately, NLRB agreed with the union’s position and ordered a new vote that was undertaken earlier last month.
Amazon workers at a second warehouse on New York’s Staten Island will vote whether to form a union next month. Workers at the warehouse, known as LDJ5, will cast their ballots on whether to join ALU beginning April 25. Votes are set to be counted by NLRB on May 2.
Other recent labor drives have also been picking up momentum. Since the first corporate Starbucks location voted to unionize late last year, 10 others have voted with only one store voting against unionizing. The latest and largest Starbucks to unionize is the company’s flagship store in Manhattan, which voted 46-36 on April 1 to unionize.
Walmart, the largest U.S. private employer with nearly 1.6 million employees, has successfully staved off unionization, although employees have attempted to organize in the past. In 2000, the meat department of a Jacksonville, TX store reached out to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and voted to join that union, the first time ever for Walmart employees. Three other meat departments at other stores followed suit. The meat cutters – led by a butcher with almost 25 years of experience – had been dissatisfied because of unfulfilled promises and seeing new employees hired on who starting out with higher pay.
Walmart then closed that original meat department, as well as 179 others, announcing they were pivoting instead to prepackaged meat and getting rid of in-store butchers altogether.
In the U.S. employers are legally barred from discouraging union activity among employees by means of threats (e.g., saying they will close the store or cut benefits). However, Walmart has found itself in trouble for breaking these laws. In 2018, Walmart settled a long-running battle with labor activists over the punishment of workers who claimed they were mistreated by managers for supporting efforts to organize by wearing union insignia.
The agreement compelled Walmart to publicly acknowledge in some of its California stores that it violated federal labor law and to stop threatening workers who support strikes or efforts at organizing.
The settlement — reached by the retailer, NLRB and the advocacy group OUR Walmart (Organization Union For Respect at Walmart, founded by UFCW, and currently going by the name United For Respect) — also cancelled disciplinary actions taken against six employees in its Richmond, CA-based store where employees staged a peaceful protest in 2012. Walmart was also required to drop an employee dress code that bans clothing bearing union insignia.
To date, none of Walmart’s stores have successfully unionized.
