Amazon.com Inc. wants to postpone a union vote at a warehouse in Alabama and asks the federal labor authorities to reconsider a decision to allow the postal vote due to the pandemic.
The company on Thursday appealed a decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which allows for a turnaround process due to Covid-19 risks instead of the personal elections typical of such union votes.
The ballot papers will be mailed on February 8 to approximately 6,000 workers attached to the Bessemer, Ala. In its petition, Amazon said the council’s decision was in part flawed because it did not adequately define an outbreak, among other objections.
Workers seek representation at the Retail, Wholesale and Retail Stores Union. A majority of the ballots must be unionized to gain representation. Hourly Amazon workers have never before formed or joined a union in the USA
A spokesman for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union declined to comment. Amazon declined to comment on its appeal, but said it was the best approach to an election to conduct it in person, saying it “gave the NLRB a safe, confidential and convenient proposal for employees to be on the spot. to vote, the best interests of all parties – comfort, faithfulness and timeliness of the votes. ”