Amazon Wants Do Over Of Union Vote After Accusing NLRB Of Bungling Election

Topline

Amazon asked the National Labor Relations Board for a rerun of an April 1 vote to unionize at a Staten Island warehouse—the first successful union organizing attempt at any of the e-commerce giant’s workplaces, which was surrounded by mutual accusations of misconduct.

Key Facts

Friday, Amazon filed a sheaf of 25 objections with the NLRB, accusing NLRB Region 29—which serves the area encompassing the Staten Island warehouse—of suppressing the vote by providing only three booths for over 8,000 potential voters, and of applying a double-standard to pro-union and anti-union T-shirts.

Amazon further accused Amazon Labor Union organizers of threatening employees if they voted against the union and of bribing employees with marijuana.

An NLRB spokesperson confirmed that the board had received Amazon’s objections, but said that all NLRB enforcement actions against Amazon have been consistent with the board’s mandate to enforce the National Labor Relations Act.

Amazon has a history of legal jousting with the NLRB, and in December resolved six cases with the board, agreeing to notify its workers that they have a right to start or join a union, and that the company cannot penalize them for legally protected organizing activities.

Previously, the New York Times reported that Amazon had forbidden employees at its Staten Island warehouse from staying in company break rooms or parking lots, a measure that would have made organizing activity significantly more challenging, and which was explicitly forbidden by the company’s December agreement with the NLRB.

The Amazon Labor Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

Key Background

Union activity has been on the rise recently, with the number of union petitions filed with the NLRB leaping by 57% during the first six months of the fiscal year 2022, and surprise organizing victories at historically union-resistant businesses like Starbucks, where there were successful union votes at three stores in a single day on March 9. The pro-union vote at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse, which was 2,654 to 2,131 in favor of unionization, was a stinging defeat for the e-commerce giant, which has long been candid about its desire to operate union-free workplaces, though it denies taking unfair steps to suppress organizing efforts. Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls told Yahoo Finance on Friday that employees at over 100 Amazon workplaces had contacted him about unionizing since the Staten Island warehouse’s vote barely a week earlier.

Tangent

Union organizing is a polarizing topic, according to polling by Pew Research Center. While the proportion of Americans who say labor unions have a positive effect remained static at 55% from 2019 to 2021, over the same period approval rose among Democrats from 66% to 74% and fell among Republicans from 44% to 34%, Pew found.

Further Reading

“Amazon Union Vote Is A Big Win For Labor Unions⁠—And A Wake-Up Call For Retailers” (Forbes)