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https://news.yahoo.com/what-the-union-defeat-at-amazon-means-for-the-labor-movement-200801599.html
What’s happening
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., voted against forming a union on Friday in an election that had garnered national attention for what it might signal about the future of the labor movement in America.
The vote came after months of aggressive campaigning by union organizers and a focused anti-union effort from the online retail giant. Had the vote passed, the Bessemer facility would have become home to the first union of Amazon workers in the U.S. The organizing drive drew support from pro-union activists and politicians who believed a successful vote could inspire more workers to unionize and signal a resurgence for organized labor after decades of declining influence in the private sector.
Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, has been the target of intense criticism by workers’ groups who say employees in the company’s massive fulfillment centers that support its shipping business endure grinding efficiency demands, constant surveillance and heightened injury risk. Labor organizers argued that a union would fight to improve these conditions and raise wages. Amazon countered by saying a union was unnecessary because it already provides good employee benefits and has a companywide $15 minimum wage — more than double the federal rate.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said it would file an objection charging Amazon with interfering with the vote. In the run-up to the vote, the company held mandatory meetings at which the downsides of unions were stressed, sent employees frequent anti-union text messages and even put anti-union flyers in employee bathrooms. All of these tactics are legal, but the RWDSU has accused Amazon of breaking the law by having a U.S. Postal Service mailbox placed on the grounds of the facility — a move organizers say made some workers wary that their mail-in ballots for the vote would be monitored by the company. An Amazon spokesperson told Yahoo News that the mailbox was intended to provide a “simple, secure and optional way to make it easy for employees to vote.”
Why there’s debate
In the mid-1950s, roughly one-third of American workers belonged to a union. Today, just 6 percent of private sector workers do. Union supporters say the degradation of union power has led to worse working conditions and lower wages. Critics of organized labor argue that workers will ultimately benefit if companies aren’t burdened by the demands of employee unions.
The vote was seen by many as a major setback for organized labor and a sign of just how far unions have to go before they can regain significant influence in the private sector. In their eyes, Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos — the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth approaching $200 billion — provided the perfect foil for the workers’ rights movement. The failure of the vote in Bessemer, in the midst of a pandemic that has seen Amazon’s profits surge, could be seen as a sign of the incredibly steep challenge that organizing efforts face nationwide, labor movement experts said. Many progressives fear that, without a resurgence in unions, American workers will see their wages continue to drop and working conditions become increasingly intolerable as robotic automation makes human workers increasingly unnecessary.
Union backers, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the Bessemer organizing drive still marks a step forward for the labor movement despite the failed vote. “Workers in Alabama will inspire significant growth in union organizing efforts around the country,” Sanders said. The election also brought national attention to working conditions at Amazon facilities and the company’s anti-union tactics that could sway public opinion in favor of organizers in the future. “People all over this country are hearing that unions are the solution,” Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, told the New York Times. A number of Democratic lawmakers expressed hope that the vote will invigorate efforts to reform laws they say give corporations like Amazon an unfair amount of leeway to squash organizing campaigns.
What’s next
As part of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan, President Biden has called on Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a measure that would ban many of the tactics Amazon used to campaign against the Bessemer union drive. It’s unclear at the moment, however, whether the PRO Act will be part of the final proposal if and when it reaches Congress for a vote.
Perspectives
The election was a blow to the campaign for workers’ rights
“It’s a depressing outcome. I’m not a steadfast, solidarity-forever kind of union guy. … But American workers around the country need and deserve a strong union movement protecting them at a moment of historic income inequality and economic fragility. And at the moment, they don’t have one.” — Nicholas Goldberg, Los Angeles Times
Workers will be better off if union drives fail
“Amazon needs people. It has been hiring as fast as it can. … But Amazon isn’t hiring all those people out of charity: Labor is valuable, and good labor is very valuable. When it comes to raising the price of labor, supply and demand work a lot better than carping and regulation.” — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review
Despite coming up short, the vote still represents a step forward for unions
“The most important story is not the fact that the union didn't win. Rather, it's that they got as close to winning as they did.” — Labor movement researcher Erin Hatton to Business Insider
The election could create pressure to reform federal labor laws
“In an age when even many Republican voters are warming to the idea of unions, Biden could have a once-in-a-generation chance to breathe life into the dying embers of American labor power. If that happens, we might one day look back and see the Amazon fight as a turning point.” — Noah Smith, Bloomberg
The vote highlighted how misguided labor organizing efforts are
“The vote again shows the practical divide between today’s unions and workers. Big Labor portrays itself as the vanguard of social justice, but workers care about their opportunities and income. When they think a company is doing well by them, they see no need for a union that will take some of its income away in dues.” — Editorial, Wall Street Journal
The media hurt the pro-union cause by putting far too much weight on one election
“The coverage heaped a mountain of unwarranted attention that might serve the media narrative behind the PRO Act, but overhyped campaigns also leave people feeling defeated. Sometimes, in fact, they feel so defeated that they withdraw and give up forever.” — Jane McAlevey, The Nation
Public pressure will have more of an impact than union drives
“The best way to push changes to labor standards at Amazon is for its most loyal customers to demand it. We should demand it from our elected officials and our regulators, but it might be more effective to go to the source of the problem.” — Farhad Manjoo, New York Times
The election showed how much of an advantage big companies have
“The big takeaway from the Amazon loss should be that the playing field is tilted heavily against unions when facing anti-union employers. Amazon had access to its workers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while U.S. law let Amazon bar union organizers from entering the warehouse.” — Labor historian Steven Greenhouse
Automation will mean workers will have even less power in the near future
“This battle has wide-ranging implications. It could be a harbinger of the future of employment more generally, as the harsh realities of algorithmic management move deeper into the everyday experience of work and more power is concentrated into the hands of corporate leaders.” — Kate Crawford, Washington Post
It’s too early to know what impact the election will have
“Obviously, had the vote gone a different way, we'd be drawing different conclusions. So I think we should be careful about declaratively saying this is where it’s going to go next. But this is a big deal.” — Labor movement historian Margaret O’Mara to PBS NewsHour
____________________________________________________________________________
Amazon “Broke the Law”: Union Seeks New Election After Alabama Warehouse Organizing Drive Fails
The largest union drive in the history of Amazon has ended with the company on top. After a months-long battle, 738 workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse voted to unionize, and 1,798 voted no. Ballots from another 505 workers were challenged, mostly by Amazon. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that led the drive says Amazon illegally interfered in the vote, and it plans to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Amazon, which is led by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, spent millions to defeat the closely watched election, and even got a private mailbox installed at the warehouse so it could pressure workers to mail their ballots from work and monitor votes. “It’s important that people don’t misread the results of this election,” says Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “People were not saying that they were satisfied with Amazon’s working conditions in any way. They were saying that they were afraid to vote for the union.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The largest union drive in the history of Amazon ended Friday with the company, led by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, on top. After a months-long battle, ultimately 738 workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse voted to unionize, and 1,798 voted no. Ballots from another 505 workers were challenged, mostly by Amazon.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that led the drive says Amazon illegally interfered in the vote, and it plans to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
Democracy Now! co-host Juan González tweeted in response to the vote, “How do more than 2,000 workers sign union cards at Amazon’s Alabama plant but only 700 vote yes? And why did only half of workers vote when 3/4 normally vote in such elections? Try examining employer intimidation,” he said.
Indeed, Amazon spent millions to defeat the closely watched election, and even got a private mailbox installed — that’s a U.S. postal mailbox installed — at the warehouse so it could pressure workers to mail their ballots from work, and monitor votes.
Amazon responded to the claim in a statement, saying, quote, “It’s easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that’s not true,” they said.
Meanwhile, the David-and-Goliath fight in Bessemer has added pressure on Senate Democrats to follow their peers in the House and pass the PRO Act, which stands for Protecting the Right to Organize and would ban many of the tactics Amazon used to crush the organizing drive.
For more, we go to Birmingham, Alabama, not far from Bessemer, to speak with Stuart Appelbaum. He’s the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, recently wrote a piece for Newsweek headlined “Unionizing Amazon Workers Have Already Won.”
Welcome back to Democracy Now! Stuart Appelbaum, can you talk about what happened? Your reaction to the vote lost for unionizing Amazon, though you see, ultimately, what happened as a victory?
STUART APPELBAUM: Thank you, and good morning.
I think that it’s important that people don’t misread the results of this election. People were not saying that they were satisfied with Amazon’s working conditions in any way. They were saying that they were afraid to vote for the union.
And I also think that although the results were clearly not what we wanted, we still believe that a lot of powerful things have been accomplished in this vote and that this election is far, far from over. We had a very exciting meeting last night with the committee, the organizing committee, and we’re going to be filing objections this week to the vote, and we’re going to be looking for a new election.
Look, you have to look at what happened. This is the first time ever that there has been an election at an Amazon warehouse any place in the United States, and that’s important. I think it opens the door to further organizing. I think that we put a stoplight on the way Amazon treats its workers, and people around the world were astounded to hear about the conditions there. I think that we have become an important argument for the PRO Act, because we exposed what it is that employers like Amazon do to try to crush union organizing. And I think that this election has received more attention than elections for a union in decades. And part of the result is that a recent poll showed that 77% of Americans supported the Amazon workers seeking a union.
And I look at the alliances that have been created. There was a powerful, powerful, powerful community involvement in this campaign. I know — I believe another one of your guests didn’t understand the community involvement, but she hadn’t spoken to any of the organizers involved in the campaign. We’re proud of the partnership with the Black Lives Matter movement. We saw this as much a civil rights struggle as a union struggle. We think that we breathed new life into the labor movement at the same time. And I think we also showed an inclusive way of organizing. So, we see a lot of positive things that came out of this vote.
If I could just mention two things quickly. More votes were cast for a union in this election than in all union elections in Alabama in the year before. And I think that’s really important.
AMY GOODMAN: Stuart, can you talk about the numbers? I mean, you had 5,800 workers at the Amazon warehouse. Less than half of them voted. Seven hundred-plus voted for the union. Around 1,500 voted against, apparently, according to the certified count. So, in fact, less than half of the voters voted?
STUART APPELBAUM: Actually, I think it was about 55% that voted. I’d also say that at least 400 of the votes that Amazon challenged, for ridiculous reasons — they would say they couldn’t read a signature of a union supporter’s vote. And so, I think that the numbers really don’t reflect how people voted.
Also, you have to understand the extraordinary turnover at Amazon facilities. You have a turnover of over 100% a year, which meant that we had no choice but to move fast in this election. It’s not like organizing at a nursing home or in other places where there is more stability in the workplace. But a lot of people were not even working at Amazon. People who were working there in January, a lot of them were no longer there by the time the vote started on February 9th.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you’re taking — you’re filing complaints with the National Labor Relations Board?
STUART APPELBAUM: Right, right.
AMY GOODMAN: On what grounds?
STUART APPELBAUM: Oh, they broke the law in so many ways. They had union-busting consultants telling employees that if the union were voted in, Amazon may have to shut down the warehouse.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk about that for a minute. The Intercept reported Amazon paid a consultant with ties to the Koch brothers $3,200 a day to thwart the unionization drive, also required workers to attend these anti-union captive audience meetings. Can you talk about them?
STUART APPELBAUM: Sure, of course. And also it was many consultants, many. They brought in about 200 people to walk the floors. And a lot of people were paid $3,200 a day. Amazon left no stone unturned in trying to thwart this effort.
And at the captive audience meetings, people would be forced, at an hour at a time, several times a week, to listen to consultants telling them why unions are bad, and they didn’t need to union, and they should vote against it. And if someone questioned them, a photograph would be taken of their employee badge, and they’d be expelled from the meeting.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me go to one Amazon warehouse worker, Joseph Jones, speaking on Democracy Now! about the meetings.
STUART APPELBAUM: Well, it’s just — I agree with Joseph. And I’d also point out I don’t even own a car. I don’t have a car from the union. But our union representatives, whose job it is to travel from workplace to workplace, need vehicles.
They just complained about anything they could to make people afraid to vote, you know, like they lied. They lied about dues. We explained to people that we want you to pay dues, we hope you will want to pay dues, but it’s going to be your choice. Alabama is a right-to-work state. We also know, by the time a contract could be negotiated, it would be probably a mostly new workforce, and we’d be doing a dues campaign. But Amazon lied to people about whether or not they’d be compelled to pay money, hundreds of dollars, and that they should spend the money instead on dinners and gifts for friends.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, I wanted to get your response to the Teamsters union, which has 1.4 million members, saying they’re also working on organizing Amazon warehouse workers and delivery drivers. In These Times labor reporter Hamilton Nolan ran a story last month headlined “The Teamsters Hint at a Combative National Project to Organize Amazon.” The union has said it’s taking a different approach than RWDSU, your union, Stuart. The secretary-treasurer of a Teamsters local in Iowa told The New York Times, “We’re focused on building a new type of labor movement where we don’t rely on the election process to raise standards.” Your final response?
STUART APPELBAUM: I would say that I welcome my sisters and brothers throughout the labor movement to get involved. I think this needs to be a project of the entire labor movement. But I question whether or not you’re going to be able to compel Amazon to deal with a union other than through an election and achieving majority status, because we saw in New York City, when we defeated Amazon in their attempt to build a second headquarters in New York City, that we had incredible leverage at that point, and yet it made no difference. And we’ve seen people talking about maybe instead of having elections, we should sign petitions, or we should have small walkouts. I think, at the end of the day, that’s not going to be sufficient. You’re going to need to get an expression of majority support in the workforce in order to compel Amazon to deal with you. But I welcome — I welcome unions everywhere to be involved in this effort to organize Amazon workers. We have no choice but to challenge Amazon’s way of treating its employees and doing business.
AMY GOODMAN: Stuart Appelbaum, I want to thank you for being with us, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, speaking to us from Alabama.
SOURCE: DEMOCRACY NOW!
____________________________________________________________________________
Amazon avoids a union in Alabama, but scrutiny over labor practices is here to stay
Regulators and the public remain focused on working conditions at Amazon, whether or not any more warehouses try to organize.
Bernie Sanders is among the politicians supporting Amazon workers who want to unionize. The union's objection to the Bessemer election could keep the issue in the public eye and energize efforts at other facilities.
Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images
Amazon prevailed Friday in its fight against labor organizing at its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, with workers rejecting the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union by a ratio of 2-to-1. The union's definitive loss could be the end of the road for its effort in Bessemer, but the labor fight at Amazon may just be getting started.
The union, which said immediately it would object to the election, argues that Amazon improperly swayed the vote, and it may yet win the chance to redo the election. Whether or not it does, the effort garnered the backing of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and words of support from President Joe Biden, becoming a national story that could catalyze future attempts elsewhere -- especially as reports about the working conditions continue to spill out.
Meanwhile, Amazon is trying to position itself as a leader on labor issues and directing the conversation away from unions. In a statement Friday, the company emphasized its advocacy for a $15 federal minimum wage for the "40 million Americans who make less than the starting wage at Amazon, and many more who don't get health care through their employers."
Even if no warehouse workers try to organize in the near future, the scrutiny on working conditions at Amazon is likely to get even more intense. The National Labor Relations Board is reportedly considering investigating the company for a possible pattern of unfair labor practices, after receiving 37 complaints of retaliation from Amazon workers who say they were fired or disciplined for organizing walkouts or complaining about working conditions. And Amazon's thousands of workers, called essential during the coronavirus pandemic as they processed orders while risking infection, will likely continue calling attention to conditions they say leave them exhausted, at risk of injury and in fear of losing their jobs.
"People are not going to give up," said Kirthi Kanyalam, director of the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University. "They are too big an employer."
A union determined to keep going
It's uncommon for a union to object to a lost election when workers have voted it down by such a wide margin, said Andrew MacDonald, a labor attorney who represents employers but who wasn't involved in the Bessemer election. There's a high cost to running an organizing drive, and a big loss can send a signal that the union has lost worker support.
But the RWDSU announced its intention to object before the NLRB publicly released its final tally.
"That says to me that they feel strongly," MacDonald said. "It's not over yet."
If the fight keeps going, it could help maintain the union's momentum in organizing efforts elsewhere in the country. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said Friday that the union is already talking about unionizing with workers at other Amazon warehouses. Additionally, the giant union federation AFL-CIO is working with the RWDSU on its unionizing efforts, adding heft and resources to the tiny union's endeavors. Separately, Teamsters organizers are reportedly talking with workers at two Iowa Amazon warehouses about a potential union drive.
In its fight to redo the Bessemer election, the RWDSU takes issue with Amazon's anti-union tactics, including mandatory employee training sessions that argued against unions and that the RWDSU says were filled with falsehoods. It also criticizes Amazon for pressing the US Postal Service to install a mailbox at the Bessemer warehouse after the NLRB ordered Amazon not to host a drop box for ballots.
Read more: Amazon union defeated, pushes for election redo: What you need to know
The union argues that the mailbox, which was a metal cabinet with mail slots leading to locked drawers, and not a clearly marked blue Post Office mailbox, could've given employees the false impression that Amazon was involved in collecting and counting votes. Amazon says only the post office had access to the mailbox.
Additionally, the city of Bessemer reportedly agreed to a request from Amazon to change the length of the red light at a traffic light near the Bessemer facility. The result was that workers driving away from their shifts wouldn't wait as long at an intersection where union advocates were waiting to talk with them about organizing. Amazon says the change was to address traffic created by almost 2,000 people leaving the facility at shift changes. "It's normal to work with local officials to assess traffic patterns and adjust as needed to reduce impact on neighboring communities," a spokesperson said in a statement.
These techniques could give organizers at other warehouses an idea of what they'll be up against. One constant that can lead workers to reject unions is the fear of layoffs and facility closures, said Rebecca Kolins Givan, a professor of management and labor relations at Rutgers.
That's especially the case in places like Alabama, where Amazon warehouse workers earn almost twice as much as the state's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The Bessemer facility brought thousands of jobs with pay higher than $15 an hour to the region. Workers' fear of losing that could make it hard for the union to make its case a second time, and it could also derail other union drives.
The future of labor relations at Amazon
Even if union drives fizzle out, Amazon will still have to face the NLRB and public opinion on its treatment of workers.
Based on 37 complaints from Amazon employees that the company fired or disciplined them in retaliation for organizing walkouts or complaining about working conditions, the NLRB is reportedly considering launching an investigation into Amazon's general practices. Amazon has settled some of the individual cases while saying the company disagrees with the claims. If the NLRB finds Amazon has a pattern of violating labor laws, it could hit the company with fines, however small they may be in proportion to Amazon's 2020 profits of $21.3 billion.
Additionally, the union drive and media attention have put pressure on Amazon to improve working conditions, said Michael Pachter, a financial analyst who follows Amazon for investment firm Wedbush. He added that Amazon would do well to address the complaints workers have made about breaks and job security -- and not simply rely on its wages and benefits as proof that it's doing the right thing.
"It's in everybody's best interest that the company treats the employees right," Pachter said. "If they can do so without a union, that's better for shareholders."
SOURCE: CNET
What’s happening
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., voted against forming a union on Friday in an election that had garnered national attention for what it might signal about the future of the labor movement in America.
The vote came after months of aggressive campaigning by union organizers and a focused anti-union effort from the online retail giant. Had the vote passed, the Bessemer facility would have become home to the first union of Amazon workers in the U.S. The organizing drive drew support from pro-union activists and politicians who believed a successful vote could inspire more workers to unionize and signal a resurgence for organized labor after decades of declining influence in the private sector.
Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, has been the target of intense criticism by workers’ groups who say employees in the company’s massive fulfillment centers that support its shipping business endure grinding efficiency demands, constant surveillance and heightened injury risk. Labor organizers argued that a union would fight to improve these conditions and raise wages. Amazon countered by saying a union was unnecessary because it already provides good employee benefits and has a companywide $15 minimum wage — more than double the federal rate.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said it would file an objection charging Amazon with interfering with the vote. In the run-up to the vote, the company held mandatory meetings at which the downsides of unions were stressed, sent employees frequent anti-union text messages and even put anti-union flyers in employee bathrooms. All of these tactics are legal, but the RWDSU has accused Amazon of breaking the law by having a U.S. Postal Service mailbox placed on the grounds of the facility — a move organizers say made some workers wary that their mail-in ballots for the vote would be monitored by the company. An Amazon spokesperson told Yahoo News that the mailbox was intended to provide a “simple, secure and optional way to make it easy for employees to vote.”
Why there’s debate
In the mid-1950s, roughly one-third of American workers belonged to a union. Today, just 6 percent of private sector workers do. Union supporters say the degradation of union power has led to worse working conditions and lower wages. Critics of organized labor argue that workers will ultimately benefit if companies aren’t burdened by the demands of employee unions.
The vote was seen by many as a major setback for organized labor and a sign of just how far unions have to go before they can regain significant influence in the private sector. In their eyes, Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos — the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth approaching $200 billion — provided the perfect foil for the workers’ rights movement. The failure of the vote in Bessemer, in the midst of a pandemic that has seen Amazon’s profits surge, could be seen as a sign of the incredibly steep challenge that organizing efforts face nationwide, labor movement experts said. Many progressives fear that, without a resurgence in unions, American workers will see their wages continue to drop and working conditions become increasingly intolerable as robotic automation makes human workers increasingly unnecessary.
Union backers, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the Bessemer organizing drive still marks a step forward for the labor movement despite the failed vote. “Workers in Alabama will inspire significant growth in union organizing efforts around the country,” Sanders said. The election also brought national attention to working conditions at Amazon facilities and the company’s anti-union tactics that could sway public opinion in favor of organizers in the future. “People all over this country are hearing that unions are the solution,” Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, told the New York Times. A number of Democratic lawmakers expressed hope that the vote will invigorate efforts to reform laws they say give corporations like Amazon an unfair amount of leeway to squash organizing campaigns.
What’s next
As part of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan, President Biden has called on Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a measure that would ban many of the tactics Amazon used to campaign against the Bessemer union drive. It’s unclear at the moment, however, whether the PRO Act will be part of the final proposal if and when it reaches Congress for a vote.
Perspectives
The election was a blow to the campaign for workers’ rights
“It’s a depressing outcome. I’m not a steadfast, solidarity-forever kind of union guy. … But American workers around the country need and deserve a strong union movement protecting them at a moment of historic income inequality and economic fragility. And at the moment, they don’t have one.” — Nicholas Goldberg, Los Angeles Times
Workers will be better off if union drives fail
“Amazon needs people. It has been hiring as fast as it can. … But Amazon isn’t hiring all those people out of charity: Labor is valuable, and good labor is very valuable. When it comes to raising the price of labor, supply and demand work a lot better than carping and regulation.” — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review
Despite coming up short, the vote still represents a step forward for unions
“The most important story is not the fact that the union didn't win. Rather, it's that they got as close to winning as they did.” — Labor movement researcher Erin Hatton to Business Insider
The election could create pressure to reform federal labor laws
“In an age when even many Republican voters are warming to the idea of unions, Biden could have a once-in-a-generation chance to breathe life into the dying embers of American labor power. If that happens, we might one day look back and see the Amazon fight as a turning point.” — Noah Smith, Bloomberg
The vote highlighted how misguided labor organizing efforts are
“The vote again shows the practical divide between today’s unions and workers. Big Labor portrays itself as the vanguard of social justice, but workers care about their opportunities and income. When they think a company is doing well by them, they see no need for a union that will take some of its income away in dues.” — Editorial, Wall Street Journal
The media hurt the pro-union cause by putting far too much weight on one election
“The coverage heaped a mountain of unwarranted attention that might serve the media narrative behind the PRO Act, but overhyped campaigns also leave people feeling defeated. Sometimes, in fact, they feel so defeated that they withdraw and give up forever.” — Jane McAlevey, The Nation
Public pressure will have more of an impact than union drives
“The best way to push changes to labor standards at Amazon is for its most loyal customers to demand it. We should demand it from our elected officials and our regulators, but it might be more effective to go to the source of the problem.” — Farhad Manjoo, New York Times
The election showed how much of an advantage big companies have
“The big takeaway from the Amazon loss should be that the playing field is tilted heavily against unions when facing anti-union employers. Amazon had access to its workers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while U.S. law let Amazon bar union organizers from entering the warehouse.” — Labor historian Steven Greenhouse
Automation will mean workers will have even less power in the near future
“This battle has wide-ranging implications. It could be a harbinger of the future of employment more generally, as the harsh realities of algorithmic management move deeper into the everyday experience of work and more power is concentrated into the hands of corporate leaders.” — Kate Crawford, Washington Post
It’s too early to know what impact the election will have
“Obviously, had the vote gone a different way, we'd be drawing different conclusions. So I think we should be careful about declaratively saying this is where it’s going to go next. But this is a big deal.” — Labor movement historian Margaret O’Mara to PBS NewsHour
____________________________________________________________________________
Amazon “Broke the Law”: Union Seeks New Election After Alabama Warehouse Organizing Drive Fails
The largest union drive in the history of Amazon has ended with the company on top. After a months-long battle, 738 workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse voted to unionize, and 1,798 voted no. Ballots from another 505 workers were challenged, mostly by Amazon. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that led the drive says Amazon illegally interfered in the vote, and it plans to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Amazon, which is led by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, spent millions to defeat the closely watched election, and even got a private mailbox installed at the warehouse so it could pressure workers to mail their ballots from work and monitor votes. “It’s important that people don’t misread the results of this election,” says Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “People were not saying that they were satisfied with Amazon’s working conditions in any way. They were saying that they were afraid to vote for the union.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The largest union drive in the history of Amazon ended Friday with the company, led by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, on top. After a months-long battle, ultimately 738 workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse voted to unionize, and 1,798 voted no. Ballots from another 505 workers were challenged, mostly by Amazon.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that led the drive says Amazon illegally interfered in the vote, and it plans to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
Democracy Now! co-host Juan González tweeted in response to the vote, “How do more than 2,000 workers sign union cards at Amazon’s Alabama plant but only 700 vote yes? And why did only half of workers vote when 3/4 normally vote in such elections? Try examining employer intimidation,” he said.
Indeed, Amazon spent millions to defeat the closely watched election, and even got a private mailbox installed — that’s a U.S. postal mailbox installed — at the warehouse so it could pressure workers to mail their ballots from work, and monitor votes.
Amazon responded to the claim in a statement, saying, quote, “It’s easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that’s not true,” they said.
Meanwhile, the David-and-Goliath fight in Bessemer has added pressure on Senate Democrats to follow their peers in the House and pass the PRO Act, which stands for Protecting the Right to Organize and would ban many of the tactics Amazon used to crush the organizing drive.
For more, we go to Birmingham, Alabama, not far from Bessemer, to speak with Stuart Appelbaum. He’s the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, recently wrote a piece for Newsweek headlined “Unionizing Amazon Workers Have Already Won.”
Welcome back to Democracy Now! Stuart Appelbaum, can you talk about what happened? Your reaction to the vote lost for unionizing Amazon, though you see, ultimately, what happened as a victory?
STUART APPELBAUM: Thank you, and good morning.
I think that it’s important that people don’t misread the results of this election. People were not saying that they were satisfied with Amazon’s working conditions in any way. They were saying that they were afraid to vote for the union.
And I also think that although the results were clearly not what we wanted, we still believe that a lot of powerful things have been accomplished in this vote and that this election is far, far from over. We had a very exciting meeting last night with the committee, the organizing committee, and we’re going to be filing objections this week to the vote, and we’re going to be looking for a new election.
Look, you have to look at what happened. This is the first time ever that there has been an election at an Amazon warehouse any place in the United States, and that’s important. I think it opens the door to further organizing. I think that we put a stoplight on the way Amazon treats its workers, and people around the world were astounded to hear about the conditions there. I think that we have become an important argument for the PRO Act, because we exposed what it is that employers like Amazon do to try to crush union organizing. And I think that this election has received more attention than elections for a union in decades. And part of the result is that a recent poll showed that 77% of Americans supported the Amazon workers seeking a union.
And I look at the alliances that have been created. There was a powerful, powerful, powerful community involvement in this campaign. I know — I believe another one of your guests didn’t understand the community involvement, but she hadn’t spoken to any of the organizers involved in the campaign. We’re proud of the partnership with the Black Lives Matter movement. We saw this as much a civil rights struggle as a union struggle. We think that we breathed new life into the labor movement at the same time. And I think we also showed an inclusive way of organizing. So, we see a lot of positive things that came out of this vote.
If I could just mention two things quickly. More votes were cast for a union in this election than in all union elections in Alabama in the year before. And I think that’s really important.
AMY GOODMAN: Stuart, can you talk about the numbers? I mean, you had 5,800 workers at the Amazon warehouse. Less than half of them voted. Seven hundred-plus voted for the union. Around 1,500 voted against, apparently, according to the certified count. So, in fact, less than half of the voters voted?
STUART APPELBAUM: Actually, I think it was about 55% that voted. I’d also say that at least 400 of the votes that Amazon challenged, for ridiculous reasons — they would say they couldn’t read a signature of a union supporter’s vote. And so, I think that the numbers really don’t reflect how people voted.
Also, you have to understand the extraordinary turnover at Amazon facilities. You have a turnover of over 100% a year, which meant that we had no choice but to move fast in this election. It’s not like organizing at a nursing home or in other places where there is more stability in the workplace. But a lot of people were not even working at Amazon. People who were working there in January, a lot of them were no longer there by the time the vote started on February 9th.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you’re taking — you’re filing complaints with the National Labor Relations Board?
STUART APPELBAUM: Right, right.
AMY GOODMAN: On what grounds?
STUART APPELBAUM: Oh, they broke the law in so many ways. They had union-busting consultants telling employees that if the union were voted in, Amazon may have to shut down the warehouse.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk about that for a minute. The Intercept reported Amazon paid a consultant with ties to the Koch brothers $3,200 a day to thwart the unionization drive, also required workers to attend these anti-union captive audience meetings. Can you talk about them?
STUART APPELBAUM: Sure, of course. And also it was many consultants, many. They brought in about 200 people to walk the floors. And a lot of people were paid $3,200 a day. Amazon left no stone unturned in trying to thwart this effort.
And at the captive audience meetings, people would be forced, at an hour at a time, several times a week, to listen to consultants telling them why unions are bad, and they didn’t need to union, and they should vote against it. And if someone questioned them, a photograph would be taken of their employee badge, and they’d be expelled from the meeting.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me go to one Amazon warehouse worker, Joseph Jones, speaking on Democracy Now! about the meetings.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Joseph Jones. Your response?
STUART APPELBAUM: Well, it’s just — I agree with Joseph. And I’d also point out I don’t even own a car. I don’t have a car from the union. But our union representatives, whose job it is to travel from workplace to workplace, need vehicles.
They just complained about anything they could to make people afraid to vote, you know, like they lied. They lied about dues. We explained to people that we want you to pay dues, we hope you will want to pay dues, but it’s going to be your choice. Alabama is a right-to-work state. We also know, by the time a contract could be negotiated, it would be probably a mostly new workforce, and we’d be doing a dues campaign. But Amazon lied to people about whether or not they’d be compelled to pay money, hundreds of dollars, and that they should spend the money instead on dinners and gifts for friends.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, I wanted to get your response to the Teamsters union, which has 1.4 million members, saying they’re also working on organizing Amazon warehouse workers and delivery drivers. In These Times labor reporter Hamilton Nolan ran a story last month headlined “The Teamsters Hint at a Combative National Project to Organize Amazon.” The union has said it’s taking a different approach than RWDSU, your union, Stuart. The secretary-treasurer of a Teamsters local in Iowa told The New York Times, “We’re focused on building a new type of labor movement where we don’t rely on the election process to raise standards.” Your final response?
STUART APPELBAUM: I would say that I welcome my sisters and brothers throughout the labor movement to get involved. I think this needs to be a project of the entire labor movement. But I question whether or not you’re going to be able to compel Amazon to deal with a union other than through an election and achieving majority status, because we saw in New York City, when we defeated Amazon in their attempt to build a second headquarters in New York City, that we had incredible leverage at that point, and yet it made no difference. And we’ve seen people talking about maybe instead of having elections, we should sign petitions, or we should have small walkouts. I think, at the end of the day, that’s not going to be sufficient. You’re going to need to get an expression of majority support in the workforce in order to compel Amazon to deal with you. But I welcome — I welcome unions everywhere to be involved in this effort to organize Amazon workers. We have no choice but to challenge Amazon’s way of treating its employees and doing business.
AMY GOODMAN: Stuart Appelbaum, I want to thank you for being with us, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, speaking to us from Alabama.
SOURCE: DEMOCRACY NOW!
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Amazon avoids a union in Alabama, but scrutiny over labor practices is here to stay
Regulators and the public remain focused on working conditions at Amazon, whether or not any more warehouses try to organize.
Bernie Sanders is among the politicians supporting Amazon workers who want to unionize. The union's objection to the Bessemer election could keep the issue in the public eye and energize efforts at other facilities.
Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images
Amazon prevailed Friday in its fight against labor organizing at its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, with workers rejecting the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union by a ratio of 2-to-1. The union's definitive loss could be the end of the road for its effort in Bessemer, but the labor fight at Amazon may just be getting started.
The union, which said immediately it would object to the election, argues that Amazon improperly swayed the vote, and it may yet win the chance to redo the election. Whether or not it does, the effort garnered the backing of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and words of support from President Joe Biden, becoming a national story that could catalyze future attempts elsewhere -- especially as reports about the working conditions continue to spill out.
Meanwhile, Amazon is trying to position itself as a leader on labor issues and directing the conversation away from unions. In a statement Friday, the company emphasized its advocacy for a $15 federal minimum wage for the "40 million Americans who make less than the starting wage at Amazon, and many more who don't get health care through their employers."
Even if no warehouse workers try to organize in the near future, the scrutiny on working conditions at Amazon is likely to get even more intense. The National Labor Relations Board is reportedly considering investigating the company for a possible pattern of unfair labor practices, after receiving 37 complaints of retaliation from Amazon workers who say they were fired or disciplined for organizing walkouts or complaining about working conditions. And Amazon's thousands of workers, called essential during the coronavirus pandemic as they processed orders while risking infection, will likely continue calling attention to conditions they say leave them exhausted, at risk of injury and in fear of losing their jobs.
"People are not going to give up," said Kirthi Kanyalam, director of the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University. "They are too big an employer."
A union determined to keep going
It's uncommon for a union to object to a lost election when workers have voted it down by such a wide margin, said Andrew MacDonald, a labor attorney who represents employers but who wasn't involved in the Bessemer election. There's a high cost to running an organizing drive, and a big loss can send a signal that the union has lost worker support.
But the RWDSU announced its intention to object before the NLRB publicly released its final tally.
"That says to me that they feel strongly," MacDonald said. "It's not over yet."
If the fight keeps going, it could help maintain the union's momentum in organizing efforts elsewhere in the country. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said Friday that the union is already talking about unionizing with workers at other Amazon warehouses. Additionally, the giant union federation AFL-CIO is working with the RWDSU on its unionizing efforts, adding heft and resources to the tiny union's endeavors. Separately, Teamsters organizers are reportedly talking with workers at two Iowa Amazon warehouses about a potential union drive.
In its fight to redo the Bessemer election, the RWDSU takes issue with Amazon's anti-union tactics, including mandatory employee training sessions that argued against unions and that the RWDSU says were filled with falsehoods. It also criticizes Amazon for pressing the US Postal Service to install a mailbox at the Bessemer warehouse after the NLRB ordered Amazon not to host a drop box for ballots.
Read more: Amazon union defeated, pushes for election redo: What you need to know
The union argues that the mailbox, which was a metal cabinet with mail slots leading to locked drawers, and not a clearly marked blue Post Office mailbox, could've given employees the false impression that Amazon was involved in collecting and counting votes. Amazon says only the post office had access to the mailbox.
Additionally, the city of Bessemer reportedly agreed to a request from Amazon to change the length of the red light at a traffic light near the Bessemer facility. The result was that workers driving away from their shifts wouldn't wait as long at an intersection where union advocates were waiting to talk with them about organizing. Amazon says the change was to address traffic created by almost 2,000 people leaving the facility at shift changes. "It's normal to work with local officials to assess traffic patterns and adjust as needed to reduce impact on neighboring communities," a spokesperson said in a statement.
These techniques could give organizers at other warehouses an idea of what they'll be up against. One constant that can lead workers to reject unions is the fear of layoffs and facility closures, said Rebecca Kolins Givan, a professor of management and labor relations at Rutgers.
That's especially the case in places like Alabama, where Amazon warehouse workers earn almost twice as much as the state's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The Bessemer facility brought thousands of jobs with pay higher than $15 an hour to the region. Workers' fear of losing that could make it hard for the union to make its case a second time, and it could also derail other union drives.
The future of labor relations at Amazon
Even if union drives fizzle out, Amazon will still have to face the NLRB and public opinion on its treatment of workers.
Based on 37 complaints from Amazon employees that the company fired or disciplined them in retaliation for organizing walkouts or complaining about working conditions, the NLRB is reportedly considering launching an investigation into Amazon's general practices. Amazon has settled some of the individual cases while saying the company disagrees with the claims. If the NLRB finds Amazon has a pattern of violating labor laws, it could hit the company with fines, however small they may be in proportion to Amazon's 2020 profits of $21.3 billion.
Additionally, the union drive and media attention have put pressure on Amazon to improve working conditions, said Michael Pachter, a financial analyst who follows Amazon for investment firm Wedbush. He added that Amazon would do well to address the complaints workers have made about breaks and job security -- and not simply rely on its wages and benefits as proof that it's doing the right thing.
"It's in everybody's best interest that the company treats the employees right," Pachter said. "If they can do so without a union, that's better for shareholders."
SOURCE: CNET
