Amazon will reportedly protest a recent union victory at its Staten Island warehouse, claiming organizers pressured workers to organize. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company announced its intention to appeal JFK8’s election in a legal filing released Thursday. About 55 percent of workers at JFK8 camp voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, the first such victory for Amazon workers in the United States. The company has until April 22 to gather evidence and formally file its objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
In the document, Amazon previewed the proposed objections. The company wrote that it believes the union threatened employees if they did not vote for a union. Some might think this is a rather tongue-in-cheek move by Amazon, considering NLRB has accused the company of threatening employees unless they did the opposite. Amazon also accused the union of “election campaigning” or meddling while employees waited in line to vote. It argued that unusually long waits in the polling booths resulted in under-turnout. The company also believes organizers lurked in the voting area intimidating voters, even going so far as to threaten migrant workers with the loss of their rights if they did not vote to unionize.
Eric Milner, an attorney representing ALU, believes Amazon’s objections will be dismissed. “To say that the Amazon Union threatened workers is really absurd,” Milner told Reuters. “The Amazon Labor Union are Amazon employees.”
Meanwhile, a separate union trying to organize an Amazon facility in Alabama filed its own objections Thursday over the pending results of its most recent re-election. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union (RWDSU) accuses Amazon of “countless attempts to intimidate workers” at the Bessemer plant, including firing or suspending workers who have supported the union. The results of this election are not yet known and will be determined by an NLRB hearing of several hundred contested ballots in the coming weeks.
“Amazon’s conduct must not go unchallenged, and the rights of workers in Bessemer, Alabama must be protected by law. We urge the NLRB to carefully consider our objections and ensure that no company, even with Amazon’s bottomless pockets, can be allowed to stand above the law,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement.
Engadget has reached out to Amazon for comment on both matters and will update when we receive feedback.
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