Amazon realization center warehouse.
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Amazon warehouse workers at an Alabama warehouse may begin voting by mail in early February on whether to form a union, a National Labor Relations Board hearing officer decided Friday.
About 6,000 employees at the Bessemer, Alabama Compliance Center will vote starting Feb. 8 to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. NLRB regional offices must receive the ballots by March 29, and then the board will begin counting the ballots from 10 a.m. CT the next day.
The decision represents a blow to Amazon, which had pushed for the elections to be held in person at the Bessemer facility, known as BHM1.
An RWDSU spokesman declined to comment. Amazon did not respond to any feedback requests. An Amazon spokesman said earlier that the company does not believe RWDSU “represents the majority of our employees’ opinions.”
The ruling sets in motion what will be a closely guarded union vote for one of the nation’s largest employers. Unions have a stronger foothold among some of Amazon’s European workers, but the company has largely managed to thwart organizational efforts in the U.S.
Amazon has created a website to announce its position in the Alabama department store union, urging workers to “do it without dues,” referring to the cost of membership when joining a union.
“We are covered with high salaries, health care, vision and dental benefits, as well as a safety committee and an appeals process,” according to the website, which was first reported by the Washington Post. “There’s so much more you can do for your career and your family without paying dues.”
Amazon hasn’t faced a substantial union vote since 2014, when repair technicians at a Delaware warehouse failed to get enough votes to form a union. However, since then, protests related to Prime Day and other events, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, have laid the groundwork for increased organizational efforts among some parts of its workforce across the country.
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