Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, on Thursday overwhelmingly voted against the formation of a union after a month-long campaign in which Labor hoped to enter the sprawling business.
As the votes for the night were interrupted, 1,100 employees voted against union, up from 463. The count provides an almost insurmountable climb for union supporters to get the 1,608 votes needed to win.
If approved, the union would be the first for Amazon, the country’s second-largest employer, in the United States.
Although the vote was not completed, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, or RWDSU, the union that wants to represent the 5,800 employees in Bessemer, has already said it will challenge the vote by submitting unfair labor practice tariffs to the NLRB . It would allege that Amazon violated the law with some of its anti-union activities in the run-up to the election.
“Our system is broken, Amazon has taken full advantage of it and we will appeal to the Labor Board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and serious conduct during the campaign,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU. “But make no mistake about it: it’s still an important moment for working people, and their voice will be heard.”
Amazon did not issue a statement after the Thursday night count was finalized.
After the seven-week window to vote by mail ended on March 29, the NLRB looked for two weeks to see if the ballots were eligible and counted in a process observed by the union and Amazon. Out of 5,805 eligible voters, 3,215 votes were cast, but according to the union, ‘hundreds’ were set aside as disputed, mostly by Amazon. Ballot papers can be disputed by Amazon or the union based on factors such as illegible signatures or questions about whether employees’ posts have their voting rights. The ballot papers are only counted if the final margin is small enough.
Few surprises
Labor experts said the early predictions about the outcome are not a surprise, given the resources Amazon has invested to counter organization.
“It’s so hard for workers to win in a situation like this,” said Rebecca Givan, an associate professor of management and labor relations at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “The most likely outcome in these situations is that the employer successfully spoils the union by instilling fear and insecurity in the workers, and even the workers who were initially in favor of the organization in a trade union become frightened and change their minds. “
The Bessemer Warehouse, which opened in March 2020, is Amazon’s first fulfillment center in Alabama. Workers began organizing with a union vote in August in the hope that it would help improve their working conditions. Currently, it’s hard to go to the bathroom without being penalized, Jennifer Bates, an Amazon worker in Bessemer, said she was inspired to support the union, after regularly seeing her colleagues limping from the bodily toll. take work.
Earlier this year, Amazon unveiled what characterizes labor experts as a classic, well-funded anti-union campaign in the warehouse.
Workers said they had to attend several meetings during their shifts, in which Amazon representatives explained why, according to them, a union is not beneficial to workers. Posters across the warehouse, some of which are in bathroom stalls, urged workers to vote no. The company also distributed buttons and stickers for employees to wear, and it created a website and a hashtag, #DoItWithoutDues, which shows how workers have to pay $ 500 annually to the union.
Amazon has a long history of union frustration. In 1999, the Communication Workers of America launched a campaign to unite 400 customer service workers in Seattle. After months of anti-union campaign, Amazon closed the call center in 2000 in a restructuring related to the dot-com bus.
In 2014, 21 equipment technicians at an Amazon warehouse in Delaware voted to organize with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers following what the union spokesman described as “intense pressure from executives and anti-union consultants.”
Amazon spokeswoman Mary Osako told Time magazine at the time that the “no” vote against third-party representation shows that employees “prefer a direct connection to Amazon.”
Organize dropouts
Workers in Bessemer who opposed the union apparently questioned its purpose.
LaVonette Stokes, who works as a labor organizer for the Alabama Teachers Union if she does not work at Amazon, and her husband hold positions as medium-sized process guides earning $ 15 to $ 19 an hour. But she said a union for unskilled labor in Bessemer made no sense and that it would move too slowly. She and her husband spent $ 2,400 of their own money printing pamphlets outlining the benefits of Amazon.
“We’re talking about a union that signed contracts where yes, they got an increase, but it took about five to seven years before they reached the increase,” she said.
Her husband, William, said: “We are not against unions. We are against this union, and we are against a union in this particular facility. Anything this union offers, we can do ourselves.”
Workers in favor of the union said they hoped it would improve their working conditions and offer better job security and benefits when Amazon partly reported record profits due to a pandemic-induced boom in online retail.
“I love my job. I give it 110 percent every day, no matter how hard it is, how stressful it is,” said Darryl Richardson, a worker at the Bessemer Warehouse. “But I feel that employees deserve better and more for what they do.”
Richardson said he and other union workers expect to be fired or forced to quit their jobs.
“I have to move on and I hate it,” he said. “It’s sad that you’re doing everything in your power to make things better for the people and that you feel like you’re going to lose your job.”
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in an email: “We respect the right of all our employees to join a trade union or other legitimate organization of their choice, form them or not, without fear for retaliation, intimidation or harassment. “
Amazon spokeswoman Leah Seay said Bessemer received health care coverage and hourly pay of at least $ 15.30, which is much higher than the federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 per hour. Alabama has no minimum wage law.
Employees also get a retirement plan, Seay said.
Wider impact
The union has drawn worldwide attention to the conditions for Amazon’s warehouse workers and how long it will take to organize them, said Givan, the Rutgers professor.
“Workers across the country who have been watching what is happening may be inspired by what can happen if you act and get national attention,” she said.
According to analysts, efforts to unite at other Amazon warehouses in the US are likely to continue, especially in higher-cost states such as New York and California. Chelsea Connor, spokesperson for RWDSU, said the union had received more than a thousand inquiries about organizing Amazon employees at other facilities since the organization’s effort began.
“Amazon is all about the highest paid job an unskilled laborer can get in Alabama,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. ‘But in countries with higher costs, it’s hardly a living wage.
“It will make a profit,” he said. “But it’s a human thing to do.”