Unionbusters
The first major unionization drive at an Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) warehouse in the U.S. looks set to fail as results continue to be tallied at a fulfillment center located in Bessemer, Alabama. With about half the 3,215 ballots counted so far by the National Labor Relations Board, about 70% of Amazon employees at BHM1 have sided against unionization, which is well ahead of estimates that forecast somewhat of a close race. Officials will resume counting today, when a final outcome could become clear.
Bigger picture: Over the past few weeks, Amazon has pulled out all the stops to try and convince the workers at BHM1 that unionization would not be in their favor. It seems like the efforts paid off, which included aggressive advertising, mandatory anti-union meetings and sending workers multiple texts per day. Not only did the firm attract new workers to vote against the effort, but it also appears to have changed the mindset of workers who were planning to back the union, based on the early signs of support needed to trigger the vote in the first place.
Once the results have been formally certified by the National Labor Relations Board, there will likely be an appeal from The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The RWDSU is already saying that some of Amazon's tactics against the union were illegal. For example, a drop box that was placed in the parking lot of the facility could have intimidated workers into thinking that Amazon was monitoring the vote and was a direct effort to influence the ballot. Others have pointed to Amazon's push to have the county change the timing of a traffic light leaving the warehouse parking lot, which the company says was meant to alleviate congestion, though union organizers say it deprived them of a venue for canvassing workers.
What's next? Some labor experts think the union has a pretty strong case, with local regulators having the power to overturn the vote entirely and grant the union a victory. If that were to happen, the case could go to Washington, where Amazon could appeal on a national level to the NLRB. Don't expect an easy outcome. The entire process could take another few months. ( 26 comments) |
