Company's Systematic Obstruction... Amazon to Hold Re-vote Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The world's largest e-commerce company, Amazon, will hold a re-vote on union formation next month. If a union is established, a strong wave of unionization is expected to spread to Amazon, which has maintained a no-union management policy for 25 years.

On the 11th (local time), according to the U.S. economic media CNBC, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that from March 4th, a re-vote on union formation will be held at Amazon's logistics warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. The vote will be conducted by mail, and the counting will take place on March 28th.

Depending on the results, the company, which has strongly opposed union formation among warehouse employees, could face significant backlash. CNBC pointed out, "If a union is formed through this vote, the company's level of control over the logistics warehouse's work speed and wage setting could fall into confusion."

However, there are also views that the results are unlikely to change significantly even if the vote is held again.

Previously, in April last year, Amazon's first union formation was attempted at the Bessemer logistics warehouse in Alabama but failed. At that time, warehouse employees voted on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), but 71% opposed, resulting in rejection.

The vote was conducted by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the company exerted influence by installing and monitoring a mailbox in a public place in front of the logistics warehouse. There were also claims that before the vote, the company held meetings attended by employees to survey opinions on union formation.

The NLRB recommended a re-vote, stating that the company's actions of conducting the vote in a public place violated labor laws, but the voting method did not change from the previous vote.

The union side is protesting that the mail-in election already compromises fairness.

RWDSU stated in a press release on the day, "We express deep concern about the new voting conditions announced by the NLRB," and criticized, "An election conducted in the same manner as the previous one is unlikely to ensure fairness and may only foster distrust among employees during the process."

Meanwhile, besides Bessemer, where the re-vote schedule has been confirmed, employees at warehouses in Staten Island, New York, and Chicago are also pushing for union formation.

Amazon is the second-largest job creator in the U.S. after Walmart. Amazon has over 750,000 employees in the U.S. and reaches 1.5 million worldwide.