NLRB Officer Recommends Amazon Union Election Result Should Be Annulled Due To Misconduct
NLRB officer recommends Amazon union election result should be annulled due to misconduct
A National Labor Relations Board official is recommending that the results of a historic union election held earlier this year at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama be void and a new election be held in light of the e-commerce giant's illegal conduct.
The recommendation from an NLRB hearing officer, which the NLRB has not yet released, was conveyed in a press release by the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, which was instrumental in defeating Amazon's union drive in April. The National Labor Relations Board did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The election, which was conducted via mail over a nearly two-month period due to the pandemic, garnered widespread attention, with celebrities, politicians — including Vice President Joe Biden — and employees at other Amazon facilities lending public support to the unionization effort's drivers.
RWDSU filed formal objections with the NLRB following the vote's tally in April, alleging that Amazon's conduct in the run-up to and during the election precluded employees from exercising "a free and uncoerced exercise of choice." It urged the board to "abandon the election."
The RWDSU stated in its release that the officer presiding over the case determined that Amazon (AMZN) violated labor law and will recommend that the election results be vacated and a new election held.
According to previous NLRB guidance on the process, Amazon and the union will have an opportunity to file exceptions. The matter will then be decided by the NLRB's regional director.
"Throughout the NLRB hearing, we heard compelling evidence of Amazon's illegal interference with and intimidation of workers exercising their right to organize. We concur with the hearing officer's recommendation that the NLRB vacate the election results and order a rerun "Stuart Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU, stated Monday in a statement.
Amazon issued the following statement in response to Monday's news: "Our employees had an opportunity to be heard during a time when all types of voices were weighing in on the national debate, and in the end, they voted overwhelmingly in favor of direct communication with their managers and the company. Above all, their voice should be heard, and we intend to appeal to ensure that happens."
Several of the union's objections focused on the mailbox Amazon installed in the parking lot earlier this year and encouraged employees to use to mail their ballots. While union elections are typically held in person with NLRB officials present, the NLRB permitted voting by mail in response to the pandemic, despite Amazon's strenuous opposition. Ballots were mailed to eligible employees' homes and could be cast at any USPS mailbox. Prior to the results, the union objected to Amazon's new mailbox.
Amazon, which has previously fought unions in the United States, waged an online and offline campaign against the drive, including posting signs in restroom stalls and requiring workers to attend group meetings, dubbed "captive audience meetings," prior to the election's start to communicate its anti-union stance.
In the final vote count, 1,798 warehouse workers voted against unionization, while 738 voted in favor of unionization.
In Conclusion
Amazon stated in a blog post following the election results, "It's easy to predict that the union will claim that Amazon won this election as a result of employee intimidation, but that is not true. Our employees were exposed to far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and news organizations than they were exposed to from us. And Amazon did not win — our employees voted against unionization."
