More than 3,200 Amazon.com Inc. employees in an Alabama warehouse they voted if it was unionized and the initial results should be announced in the next few days.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said Wednesday afternoon that 3,215, 55 percent, of the approximately 5,800 warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted.
The public part of the vote count is expected to be published on Thursday or Friday, according to the union.
Voting ended March 29 and the counting of votes began last week. The union said hundreds of ballots were challenged by management, which could delay election results in the event of a tight race. The challenges would be resolved by the National Labor Relations Board.
Even if the union wins, it could take years of negotiation to reach an initial contract and the process could be further delayed if Amazon challenges the election results.
Workers are demanding higher pay and better working conditions.
Voting has a large turnout: organizers hope a victory will spark more union momentum across the country and not just on Amazon. Meanwhile, Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, is worried that higher union wages could hurt its results. Amazon made a profit of $ 21.3 billion in 2020.
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to date they are approximately flat, but increase by 61% over last year.