MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Amazon workers in Alabama will decide whether to unionize for the third time in three years after a federal judge ruled that the retail giant improperly influenced the latest vote in which workers rejected a union.
Administrative Law Judge Michael Silverstein on Tuesday ordered the third round of voting for Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Birmingham, after finding that Amazon committed six violations ahead of the March 2022 runoff election.
Amazon managers monitored workers’ union activities and threatened workers with plant closures if they voted to unionize, Silverstein said in an 87-page decision. Amazon managers also removed pro-union material from areas where anti-union material was available, the judge ruled.
The National Labor Relations Council also found inappropriate interference in the first elections of 2021which led to a new performance in 2022.
Silverstein’s decision comes after months of testimony and is the latest development in a… nationwide legal battle involving Amazonthe National Industrial Relations Council and unions leading efforts to unionize. Some states, like Californiahave fined the mega-retailer for labor violations.
Both Amazon and the union that organized the vote in Bessemer said they would appeal the judge’s order.
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum confirmed the court’s findings that Amazon violated labor law.
But he also said he believed Amazon would likely commit similar violations in a third election if the court did not order “significant and meaningful action” to protect the vote.
Specifically, the union requested access to private meetings between Amazon representatives and employees, as well as training for Amazon supervisors on labor laws. The judge rejected those requests.
“The record shows that there are more than a hundred managers at BHM1, but my unfair labor practice findings are limited to four managers, each of whom committed isolated unfair labor practices,” the judge ruled, referring to the Bessemer facility.
Appelbaum said the union would appeal the decision.
“Amazon must be held accountable, and we will press charges accordingly,” Appelbaum said.
Amazon spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis said the company strongly disagreed with the court’s ruling and indicated it would appeal.
“Our team at BHM1 has already made it clear twice that they do not want a Union. This decision is both factually and legally incorrect,” Paradis said in a statement. “It is disappointing that the NLRB and RWDSU continue to attempt to force a third round of voting instead of accepting the facts and the will of our team members.”
With about 6,000 employees, Bessemer in 2021 became the largest U.S. facility to vote on unionization in Amazon’s more than 20-year history. Since then, similar fights have occurred at Amazon facilities across the country.
Workers in Staten Island, New York, successfully voted for a union in 2022and became the first Amazon union in the US. But the union did has yet to start negotiating with Amazon amid legal challenges from the nation’s second-largest employer.
The effort to unionize in Bessemer in particular has always been seen as an uphill battle: Alabama is one of 27 “right to work” states where workers do not have to pay dues to the unions that represent them.
Amazon’s sprawling fulfillment center in Bessemer opened in 2020, right as the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to the U.S. Census, the city is more than 70% black and about a quarter of residents live in poverty.
A vote will likely be postponed until after the court hears expected appeals from both sides.
___ Riddle is a staff member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.