Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Union Files Claims Against Amazon Alleging 23 Meddling Practices Swayed Bessemer Vote

Union Files Claims Against Amazon Alleging 23 Meddling Practices Swayed Bessemer Vote

In the poor, majority-black town of Bessemer, Alabama, the fight to unionize the area’s largest employer - an Amazon warehouse employing 6,000 people - has become part of the Movement for Black Lives. Home to a longstanding militant union tradition, two nearby coal mines have also gone on strike recently.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) has filed its objections to Amazon’s practices during a union drive in Bessemer earlier this year, in a bid to convince the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to void the vote.

The complaint lodged on Friday names 23 different unfair labor practices the union alleges Amazon perpetrated during the voting period of between February 8 and March 29, which RWDSU says unfairly and illegally influenced the outcome of the vote in the company’s favor.

The complaints include threats of mass layoffs if the workers unionized; threatening loss of pay and benefits by workers; intimidation tactics like “mandatory captive-audience trainings” intended to indoctrinate the workers against unionizing; and electioneering by way of getting a collection box illegally installed outside the Bessemer distribution facility.

According to More Perfect Union, this mailbox was likely responsible for two huge batches of predominantly “no” votes delivered to the NLRB office in Birmingham in mid-February. Organizers had long warned that the illegal box’s presence on the Amazon campus was an additional pressure on workers to vote against the union by making them feel they were being watched by Amazon, which is notorious for monitoring every movement and activity of its workforce during their shifts.

Earlier this month, the outlet received via Freedom of Information Act requests a set of heavily redacted emails between the US Postal Service and Amazon - the USPS’ largest corporate customer - showing how the company put heavy pressure on them to install the box. These revelations proved the USPS had previously lied about placing the box on the Amazon campus being their idea, and not Amazon’s.

However, accusations against Amazon aren’t just limited to these: Sputnik has also reported on tactics such as Amazon placing its lowest-rung workers on a separate internal network that limits their lateral communication; changing the stop light timers to deny organizers time to talk to employees; and everyday texts urging workers to vote “no.” The company also hired union-busting agents to strategize with them to work against the union drive.

As a result of this, the union said, employees were denied the “free and uncoerced exercise of choice” in casting their votes. At least 1,798 workers voted “no” out of 3,215 who voted, with just 738 “yet” votes cast - the remainder were not counted because they wouldn’t have changed the outcome. However, 3,215 is just 55% of the 5,805 Bessemer workers who were eligible to vote, meaning almost half of the facility didn’t even cast a ballot.

"Working people deserve better than the way Amazon has conducted itself during this campaign," RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said after the results were announced on April 9. "We won’t rest until workers’ voices are heard fairly under the law. When they are, we believe they will be victorious in this historic and critical fight to unionize the first Amazon warehouse in the United States."

However, according to Amazon, the results were an accurate democratic expression of their employees’ thoughts on joining a labor union.

“The fact is that less than 16% of employees at BHM1 voted to join a union,” Amazon spokesperson Heather Knox told Reuters on Monday. “Rather than accepting these employees’ choice, the union seems determined to continue misrepresenting the facts in order to drive its own agenda. We look forward to the next steps in the legal process.”

The NLRB has 15 business days since the results were announced to set a hearing on the disputed voting results, which is April 30, according to the Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. If RWDSU is successful, the NLRB will void the results and allow a new vote to be held.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
China Criticizes US for Vetoing UN Ceasefire Resolution in Gaza
Saudi Arabia ranks first in UN index for e-government services in MENA
Israel Records 20% Drop In GDP, War In Gaza Is The Reason
Saudi Arabia's FDI Inflows Grow with New International Standards
Venture Capitals Power Up Across MENA Region
PM Modi Announces Opening Of New CBSE Office In Dubai
January Funding for MENA Startups Totals $86.5 Million
Saudi Arabia accelerates digital economy growth through Nvidia partnership
Israel unveils tunnels underneath Gaza City headquarters of UN agency for Palestinian refugees
Israel deploys new military AI in Gaza war
Egypt threatens to suspend key peace treaty if Israel pushes into Gaza border town, officials say
Saudi Arabia Warns Of A "Humanitarian Catastrophe" If Israel Moves On Rafah
US University To Shut Qatar Campus Due To "Heightened Mideast Instability"
Facebook and Instagram Ban Iran's Supreme Leader
Defense Technology Showcase Held in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports rise 2.5% to $6bn in November 2023: GASTAT
Rolls-Royce Executive Encourages Saudi Women to Tap into Their Inner 'Superhero' for Success in Defense Industry
Saudi Arabia launches National Academy of Vehicles and Cars
Saudi Tourism Minister Reveals Plan for 250,000 New Hotel Rooms by 2030
SAR to more than double eastern network passenger capacity with new trains deal
Saudi Arabia Enhances National Defense with New Partnerships
Saudi Aramco Maintains Arab Light Crude Pricing to Asia for March
NEOM Establishes New York Office to Support Investors
Saudi Wealth Fund Draws in Over $25 Billion Worth of Investments in Three Years, Al-Rumayyan Reveals
The Saudi Kingdom's Ultimatum to Israel: A Win-Win Peace with Saudi Arabia and the Arab World, or a Lose-Lose Continued Occupation and Endless Conflict
Biden condemns anti-Arab hate after WSJ opinion piece calls Dearborn ‘jihad capital’
Turkey Releases Seven Hostages Captured by Pro-Gaza Gunman
Arab Parliament Commends Women's Contributions to Societal Development
British and Hungarian Foreign Ministers visited Lebanese leaders to stress the importance of enacting UN Resolution 1701
Yemen's Houthis Say They Targeted British Merchant Vessel In Red Sea
Donald Trump Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for 'Historic' Middle East Policy
US lawmakers approve F-16 jet sale to Turkey following NATO expansion support
Saudi Arabia Climbs 25 Places in World Bank's National Statistics Indicator
Tourism Growth in Saudi Arabia Fuels Advancements in the Hospitality Industry," Says Rotana Official
Houthi Rebels Request Departure of UN Staff from Yemen, Including US and UK Personnel, within a Month
Modi Inaugurates Hindu Temple on Site of Demolished Mosque in India
Over 25,000 Deaths in Gaza Amid Israeli Offensive
Escalating Clashes in Gaza as Israel Distributes Leaflets to Assist in Locating Hostages
Turkey's First Astronaut Set to Launch for International Space Station Today
Head of Palestinian Investment Fund Warns More People May Die of Hunger Than War in Gaza
Palestinian Envoy Criticizes UK for Alleged 'Double Standards' in Policies Toward Israel
Morocco to Lead UN Human Rights Council in 2024
Is artificial intelligence the solution to cyber security threats?
Egypt has been identified as the leading military force among Arab nations and ranks 15th globally
The AI Revolution in the Workforce: CEOs at Davos Predict Major Job Cuts in 2024
Iranian Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi Receives Additional Prison Sentence
"Gazans Urge Israeli Forces to Target Hamas in Leaked Audio"
Biden States US and UK Airstrikes on Houthis Were a 'Defensive Action
Large Pro-Palestine Rally in London as Gaza Conflict Hits Day 100
South Africa Urges World Court to Halt Israeli Actions in Gaza
×