Votes in the mail-ballot election, which is a re-run after
the NLRB found Amazon interfered last year, will be counted starting on March
28, according to a notice published by the NLRB. The Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union (RWDSU) has been seeking to represent the workers.
Scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon has intensified in
recent months, with some employees seeking to organise at facilities in New
York and Canada. A victory at even one warehouse would be a milestone that
labour experts say could invigorate the US labour movement.
In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Barbara Agrait said, “Our
employees have always had the choice of whether or not to join a union, and
they overwhelmingly chose not to join the RWDSU last year. We look forward to
our team in (the warehouse) having their voices heard again.”
In last year's count, workers at the Bessemer warehouse
rejected forming a union by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The organising drive had
garnered support from US lawmakers and President Joe Biden.
Then in August, an NLRB hearing officer determined the
company had interfered with the vote. As example, the officer said workers may
have felt they were being surveilled when dropping ballots in a mailbox on
Amazon's property that the company encouraged them to use. Amazon also put a
campaign slogan around the mailbox. An NLRB regional director, Lisa Henderson,
officially called for a re-run in November.
In an order accompanying Tuesday's election notice from the
NLRB, Henderson said that the same mailbox would be in a "neutral
location" on Amazon's property for the forthcoming vote and that no party
could put a banner around it or issue a directive on its use.
The RWDSU said it was still worried about Amazon
"continuing its objectionable behaviour in a new election".
It said it was especially concerned that same mailbox will
remain on Amazon's property for voting, which it believes will create an
impression of surveillance that undermines a free and fair election.
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