Staff in Bessemer will vote on whether to join the first labor union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States.
Hundreds of ballots in a vote to organize a union at one of Amazon’s Alabama warehouses have been contested, in what is being called one of the most critical labor battles in recent American history.
The National Labor Relations Board started opening ballots and tabulating votes in the Bessemer, Alabama, election on Thursday.
Out of more than 5,800 qualified workers, 3,215 votes were cast in the race. Staff in Bessemer will vote on whether to join the first labor union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States.
Hundreds of ballots were contested, many by Amazon, according to the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union.
“After the public count, hundreds of contested ballots, often by the employer, would need to be discussed. There’s a chance that more problems will emerge when the ballot envelopes are opened and the ballots are counted, according to the RWDSU.
The unionisation campaign has ignited widespread political interest, with a long list of left-wing politicians – including several Republicans – speaking out in favour or visiting the state. The US labour movement sees it as a test case for hopes of expanding its influence, especially in areas of the economy where it is increasingly dominant, such as online retail.
Ballots in elections may be contested for a variety of reasons, including the voter’s qualifications based on work status or employment dates. If the number of challenged ballots could influence the election’s result, the NLRB would likely hold a later hearing on the validity of the challenged ballots after unchallenged ballots are counted.
Darryl Richardson, a 51-year-old warehouse worker who contacted the RWDSU in June of last year with interest in starting to organize a union at the warehouse, sparked the union organizing push in Bessemer. Richardson, a former union activist in his previous job in the car industry, was initially excited about starting the job months earlier, but his enthusiasm soon faded after seeing coworkers being fired over productivity quotas and seeing how salaries lagged well below what he was paid in the auto industry.
More than 3,000 union authorization cards were obtained by Richardson and other employees, allowing the NLRB to decide if the union had enough support to hold an election. At Amazon’s request, the union offered a bargaining unit of 1,500 employees, which was later increased to around 5,800 workers.
On February 8, ballots for the union election were mailed to qualifying employees, and workers had until March 29 to return completed ballots to the NLRB.
Other legal challenges or protests, depending on the outcome of the vote, may cause the official results to be delayed even further. Owing to the contested ballot process and the large size of the qualifying bargaining unit, the election counting process has taken as long as it has.
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