The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union is the latest labor union to get a case of sour grapes after losing an election. Unless Democrats have their way, it certainly won’t be the last.
Earlier this month, the RWDSU was defeated in its attempt to unionize an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama. A resounding 70% of employees voted against unionization. Even after roughly 500 ballots were contested, the vote still wasn’t close.
In response, Michigan Democratic Rep. Andy Levin declared that “without knowing it, [Amazon is] igniting a movement to pass the [PRO] Act” — legislation before Congress that would greatly expand the power of labor unions throughout the country.
Quite the opposite. Despite Democrats’ determination to appease their pals in the labor movement, the vote in Alabama only highlights how wrong the Protecting the Right to Organize Act is for workers.
For starters, under this bill, workers at the Amazon facility would not have been afforded a secret ballot election. In all likelihood, the vote would have been decided through “card check,” a method by which unions can deploy face-to-face intimidation tactics to persuade workers to sign a card that authorizes union representation.
The process requires the union to get a simple majority of signers to move forward with the certification process. However, there’s no guarantee the outcome reflects the wishes of a majority of workers.
Once a facility is organized, the PRO Act would also prevent workers from being able to opt out of joining a union, or paying union dues, without fear of losing their job. That’s the current status quo in several states without right-to-work laws. The PRO Act would expand this policy nationwide; workers everywhere would be forced to support a union they may not agree with and didn’t even vote for, in many cases.
If this misguided legislation were already the law of the land, the will of thousands of Amazon employees would have easily been overshadowed by one union bully.
But the RWDSU won’t go quietly. Instead, it’s fighting the election outcome, claiming employees were gaslighted. One of its most popular scapegoats is a ballot drop box that was installed on Amazon warehouse property.
The United Auto Workers tried a similar tactic after losing an election to represent Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Instead of admitting defeat, the UAW blamed the loss on labor laws that made it “almost impossible” for workers to form a union. But labor laws weren’t the union’s issue. The UAW failed to overcome its notoriously bad reputation that recently landed the union under federal monitorship.
The RWDSU had similar trouble convincing workers of the benefits of organizing with the union. One worker commented on social media: “It’s useless to settle for a bad union and be stuck paying dues for an organization that isn’t working for you.” Even those on the Left weren't fooled. The World Socialist Website reported that the union "failed to make a single demand of Amazon" and "made little effort to talk directly to workers at all."
For now, the RWDSU can hem and haw over the election results. The workers have spoken. But if our legislators don't reject the PRO Act, unions will no longer have to take “no” for an answer — even when that “no” comes from the majority of employees.
If lawmakers are really interested in protecting workers, they should revisit the Employee Rights Act. The bill's main components — guaranteeing secret ballots and periodic union recertifications, as well as greater member control over their dues dollars — have received overwhelming support in union households. The ERA would prioritize the interests of workers before those of labor unions.
Charlyce Bozzello is the communications director at the Center for Union Facts.
