Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama could get a chance to form a union after federal regulators approved a vote on the matter.
Representatives of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union filed paperwork in November to hold an election to represent 1,500 front-line workers in a Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, according to Bloomberg.
The tech giant objected to the vote, explaining in documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board that over 5,700 employees would be covered by the union. The tech giant’s lawyers said that meant the union had likely gathered fewer signatures than needed to mandate an election.
Under National Labor Relations Board rules, 30% of workers have to sign union authorization cards or petitions before the regulator steps in to oversee an election where employees can vote to unionize.
Much of Amazon’s workforce in Europe is represented by unions, but none of Amazon’s warehouse employees in the United States are represented by a union.
The Alabama workers’ petition doesn’t list specific grievances, but a union-backed website calls for changes related to employee discipline, firing methods, and safety.
The company said its workplace “already offers what these groups claim they want.”
“We don’t believe this group represents the majority of our employees’ views,” Amazon spokeswoman Lisa Levandowski told NPR in an email. “Our employees choose to work at Amazon because we offer some of the best jobs available everywhere we hire, and we encourage anyone to compare our overall pay, benefits, and workplace environment to any other company with similar jobs.”
