(San Francisco) Amazon says the small group of trade unionists who won a historic vote in New York last week “threatened” its warehouse workers to force them to vote in favor of forming a union.
Updated yesterday at 8:33 p.m.
According to official documents filed Thursday with the federal labor law enforcement agency (NLRB), Amazon requested more time to submit substantiated objections to the ballot. The e-commerce giant notably accuses activists from the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) of having “intimidated” employees.
The employees of the JFK8 site, located in the Staten Island district, voted in majority at the end of March to join the ALU, a first in an American warehouse of Amazon.
Second largest employer in the United States after Walmart (distribution), the group had since its creation in 1994 succeeded in repelling the desires of employees wishing to regroup in the country.
In its appeal, Amazon intends to develop several objections. The company considers that the ALU “threatened employees to force them to vote yes”, that the ALU “campaigned with employees in line to vote” or “bullied” them, and also that ALU activists “threatened immigrants” saying they risked losing “their social benefits if they did not vote for the union”.
“It’s absurd,” reacted lawyer Eric Milner on behalf of the union. “Employees have spoken and their voices have been heard. Amazon chooses […] to delay the process to avoid the inevitable: the negotiation of a contract of enterprise”.
“Amazon spent millions on anti-union consultants, Amazon held mandatory meetings, Amazon behaved in a threatening manner, Amazon illegally fired employees for trying to unionize,” he also said. added.
“Confusion, coercion and fear of reprisals”
The National Retail Union (RWDSU) is making similar rebukes to Amazon in a ballot to unionize another warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.
The vote is over, but not the count: the “no” leads with 993 ballots, against 875 “yes”, but there are still 416 so-called “disputed” ballots, which will decide the result. A hearing is due to decide in the coming weeks whether these ballots should be opened and taken into account. Then there could be other legal remedies.
In the meantime, the RWDSU has already filed a series of objections with the NLRB on Thursday on the behavior of Amazon, which it accuses of interference.
According to the organization, Amazon executives have, for example, banned voting discussions in the warehouse, as well as pro-union fliers in breakout areas, while allowing anti-union literature.
“The employer has instilled confusion, coercion and fear of reprisals among employees,” asserts the RWDSU in its press release.
Amazon did not respond to a request from AFP.
In Alabama, the NLRB is to hold a hearing on this union appeal.
The vote held in March, by correspondence, was organized after the cancellation of that of a year ago. The federal agency had indeed considered that Amazon had broken the rules.
In New York, the company has until Friday evening to submit its objections, and until April 22 to present its evidence.
A total of 8,325 JFK8 warehouse workers were on the voting list. Called to vote in person from March 25 to 30, 4,852 employees slipped a ballot into the ballot box. The “yes” won with 2654 votes against 2131.