For a second time, the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union has filed objections to a union vote at Amazon’s Bessemer fulfillment center, saying the National Labor Relations Board should set aside the results of the election.
In a filing today, the RWDSU argues that Amazon interfered with the ability to conduct a “free and fair election” at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer over union representation.
According to the union, Amazon “created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees’ freedom of choice.”
The objection will be heard alongside arguments surrounding contested ballots in last week’s union election, which went against the union. Votes against employees being represented by the RWDSU stood at 993, while votes for the union were 875. There were 416 contested ballots.
Those ballots were objected to by both the union and Amazon. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum last week said both sides objected to more than 100 votes each.
A time for that hearing has not yet been set. The second union election came after objections from the RWDSU resulted in a revote this year.
Amazon officials said objections are a normal part of the process in case the issues become relevant in the future.
“We’ve said from the beginning that we want our employees’ voices to be heard, and we hope the NLRB counts every valid vote,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said.
In its objections, the union contends that Amazon suspended an employee whose photograph and support of the union appeared on union literature. The RWDSU also says a supervisor retaliated against employees for wearing pro-union buttons and expressing support for the union, one going so far to tell a pro-union employee not to speak to her because “she’s with the devil.”
The union also alleges other acts of intimidation and retaliation against pro-union employees, with Amazon supposedly going so far as to threaten the warehouse would close if the union vote was successful. In addition, the RWDSU says Amazon either “engaged in surveillance” or “created the impression of surveillance” of organizers and employees, both on the property and when organizers visited homes.
“Workers at Amazon have endured a needlessly long and aggressive fight to unionize their workplace, with Amazon doing everything it can to spread misinformation and deceive workers,” Appelbaum said. “The company violated the law in the first election, and did so again in this re-run election, without any doubt. We will continue to hold Amazon accountable and ensure workers’ voices are heard.
“We are filing objections on Amazon’s behavior during this election, which include countless attempts to intimidate workers, even going so far as to terminate and suspend workers who supported the union. Amazon’s behavior must not go unchallenged, and workers in Bessemer, Alabama must have their rights protected under the law,” he said.