SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A union organizer waves to cars outside an Amazon fulfillment center on March 27, 2021 in Bessemer, Alabama. (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Alabama Amazon Workers Win New Vote to Unionize
"No more union busting," said one workers' rights advocate. "It is time for Amazon warehouse workers to have a union."
Jan 11, 2022
Workers' rights advocates on Tuesday applauded a decision by the National Labor Relations Board to hold a new union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama nearly a year after employees accused the multinational company of union-busting conduct that unfairly influenced the result of the previous election.
"A reminder of the shameful anti-union behavior of Bezos and Amazon management and the need to pass the Pro Act bill to protect workers' rights to form a union."
Employees at BHM1 warehouse will begin voting on February 4 and will have until March 25 to return their ballots, with the NLRB supervising the election.
The board said in a notice posted Tuesday that it had "set aside" the results of last year's election--which opposed unionization by nearly two-to-one--because the company "interfered with the employees' exercise of a free and reasoned choice."
In complaints filed with the NLRB after the election, employees said the company installed a mailbox for ballots outside the warehouse, alleging that Amazon security guards had access to the box and were seen opening it at least once. The mailbox gave "the appearance of irregularity in the election procedure," said the board on Tuesday.
The company has also been accused of handing out items with anti-union slogans at mandatory meetings and texting workers messages including, "Don't let outsiders divide our winning team."
"No more union busting," said Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, currently running for the U.S. Senate, in response to the news. "It is time for Amazon warehouse workers to have a union."
National Nurses United communications director Charles Idelson expressed hope for a fair election and noted that passage of the PRO Act would protect workers at Amazon and other companies from anti-union tactics.
The NLRB announced the new election three weeks after the company reached a settlement with the board regarding the cases of six workers who accused Amazon of union-busting.
Under the settlement, Amazon agreed to communicate with workers about their right to organize and to lift its ban on workers being on Amazon property longer than 15 minutes before or after their shifts.
The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which organized the union drive at BHM1, acknowledged that the NLRB overturned the "tainted" results of last year's election, but said it was still "deeply concerned" that the NLRB's plan to supervise next month's vote will not "adequately prevent Amazon from continuing its objectionable behavior."
RWDSU had requested an in-person election and "on-site access to talk to workers," according to HuffPost reporter Dave Jamieson.
"Workers' voices can and must be heard fairly, unencumbered by Amazon's limitless power to control what must be a fair and free election, and we will continue to hold them accountable for their actions," said the union.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Workers' rights advocates on Tuesday applauded a decision by the National Labor Relations Board to hold a new union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama nearly a year after employees accused the multinational company of union-busting conduct that unfairly influenced the result of the previous election.
"A reminder of the shameful anti-union behavior of Bezos and Amazon management and the need to pass the Pro Act bill to protect workers' rights to form a union."
Employees at BHM1 warehouse will begin voting on February 4 and will have until March 25 to return their ballots, with the NLRB supervising the election.
The board said in a notice posted Tuesday that it had "set aside" the results of last year's election--which opposed unionization by nearly two-to-one--because the company "interfered with the employees' exercise of a free and reasoned choice."
In complaints filed with the NLRB after the election, employees said the company installed a mailbox for ballots outside the warehouse, alleging that Amazon security guards had access to the box and were seen opening it at least once. The mailbox gave "the appearance of irregularity in the election procedure," said the board on Tuesday.
The company has also been accused of handing out items with anti-union slogans at mandatory meetings and texting workers messages including, "Don't let outsiders divide our winning team."
"No more union busting," said Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, currently running for the U.S. Senate, in response to the news. "It is time for Amazon warehouse workers to have a union."
National Nurses United communications director Charles Idelson expressed hope for a fair election and noted that passage of the PRO Act would protect workers at Amazon and other companies from anti-union tactics.
The NLRB announced the new election three weeks after the company reached a settlement with the board regarding the cases of six workers who accused Amazon of union-busting.
Under the settlement, Amazon agreed to communicate with workers about their right to organize and to lift its ban on workers being on Amazon property longer than 15 minutes before or after their shifts.
The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which organized the union drive at BHM1, acknowledged that the NLRB overturned the "tainted" results of last year's election, but said it was still "deeply concerned" that the NLRB's plan to supervise next month's vote will not "adequately prevent Amazon from continuing its objectionable behavior."
RWDSU had requested an in-person election and "on-site access to talk to workers," according to HuffPost reporter Dave Jamieson.
"Workers' voices can and must be heard fairly, unencumbered by Amazon's limitless power to control what must be a fair and free election, and we will continue to hold them accountable for their actions," said the union.
From Your Site Articles
Workers' rights advocates on Tuesday applauded a decision by the National Labor Relations Board to hold a new union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama nearly a year after employees accused the multinational company of union-busting conduct that unfairly influenced the result of the previous election.
"A reminder of the shameful anti-union behavior of Bezos and Amazon management and the need to pass the Pro Act bill to protect workers' rights to form a union."
Employees at BHM1 warehouse will begin voting on February 4 and will have until March 25 to return their ballots, with the NLRB supervising the election.
The board said in a notice posted Tuesday that it had "set aside" the results of last year's election--which opposed unionization by nearly two-to-one--because the company "interfered with the employees' exercise of a free and reasoned choice."
In complaints filed with the NLRB after the election, employees said the company installed a mailbox for ballots outside the warehouse, alleging that Amazon security guards had access to the box and were seen opening it at least once. The mailbox gave "the appearance of irregularity in the election procedure," said the board on Tuesday.
The company has also been accused of handing out items with anti-union slogans at mandatory meetings and texting workers messages including, "Don't let outsiders divide our winning team."
"No more union busting," said Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, currently running for the U.S. Senate, in response to the news. "It is time for Amazon warehouse workers to have a union."
National Nurses United communications director Charles Idelson expressed hope for a fair election and noted that passage of the PRO Act would protect workers at Amazon and other companies from anti-union tactics.
The NLRB announced the new election three weeks after the company reached a settlement with the board regarding the cases of six workers who accused Amazon of union-busting.
Under the settlement, Amazon agreed to communicate with workers about their right to organize and to lift its ban on workers being on Amazon property longer than 15 minutes before or after their shifts.
The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which organized the union drive at BHM1, acknowledged that the NLRB overturned the "tainted" results of last year's election, but said it was still "deeply concerned" that the NLRB's plan to supervise next month's vote will not "adequately prevent Amazon from continuing its objectionable behavior."
RWDSU had requested an in-person election and "on-site access to talk to workers," according to HuffPost reporter Dave Jamieson.
"Workers' voices can and must be heard fairly, unencumbered by Amazon's limitless power to control what must be a fair and free election, and we will continue to hold them accountable for their actions," said the union.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.