An employee loads customer orders into a waiting tractor-trailer at the multimillion-square-foot Amazon distribution warehouse that opened last fall in Fall River, MA on March 23, 2017.
John Tlumacki | Boston Globe | Getty Images
Amazon and a union that wanted to represent some of the company’s warehouse workers in Alabama reached an agreement on the size of a possible negotiating unit on Tuesday, taking the union one step closer to an election.
If successful, the Alabama union action would establish the very first union representation in an Amazon US facility.
Unions have more of a foothold in some of Amazon’s European workforce, but the company has largely succeeded in thwarting organizational efforts in the US. increasing organizational efforts across the country. Amazon hasn’t had a substantial union vote since 2014, when repair technicians in a Delaware warehouse failed to garner enough votes to form a union.
Tuesday’s agreement closed a three-day hearing before the National Labor Relations Board, in which lawyers from Amazon and the retail, wholesale and department store union smoothed out details about what employees would be allowed to vote in the election.
Last month, employees at the Amazon factory in Bessemer, Ala., Notified NLRB of their plans to vote on whether to represent it by the RWDSU. In its petition, the union said the negotiating unit would cover 1,500 full-time and part-time workers at the facility.
The NLRB said last week that it had found “sufficient display” for a vote. Amazon said additional employees are allowed to vote, arguing that the facility employs 5,700 people.
On Tuesday, Amazon and the union reached a consensus to include a wider range of workers in the proposed negotiating unit, including seasonal workers hired to help handle the holiday demand, along with other medical care functions , training and field safety fields. It means that thousands of additional employees are eligible to participate in the election.
Now it is up to the board to determine when and how the union vote will take place. The board is expected to make an election decision in early to mid-January, meaning a vote will likely not take place until later that month.
Amazon and union still disagree on the election location
Amazon and the union continue to disagree on how to hold the elections by mail or in person at the Bessemer facility, known as BHM1.
During Tuesday’s hearing, an NLRB official emphasized that post-in ballots have been used in all 30 cases submitted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The board also expressed concern that in order to hold a personal election, additional NLRB board agents would be required to travel to Jefferson County, which has a high Covid positive rate.
Harry Johnson, a lawyer representing Amazon, said the vote should take place at the Bessemer facility and pointed to the company’s extensive efforts to remediate the facility. Johnson also suggested that Amazon could rent out a hotel for NLRB personnel to stay in during the election.
Amazon’s decision to hold a personal election was reprimanded by Richard Rouco, a lawyer representing the union, who said, “ I know Amazon thinks it has special rules, or it could bubble up for itself. create or rent hotels or a lot of other things to contain the virus, but that’s not the standard. ”
In November, the NLRB published a set of guidelines on holding elections during the pandemic, suggesting that postal ballots are preferable if the 14-day positivity rate in the county where the facility is located is 5% or higher. An NLRB official in the hearing said the positivity rate in Jefferson County is above 14%.