According to a US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officer, Amazon Inc’s objections to a historic union election at a corporate warehouse in New York City necessitate a hearing that might invalidate the outcome.
The online store argues that the NLRB’s Brooklyn office appeared to assist the union drive and that labor organizers coerced workers into voting in their favor, accusations that the union denies, Reuters reported.
Amazon gained the case’s relocation to the NLRB’s Phoenix-based area last month, highlighting the Brooklyn office’s actions. According to a filing on Friday, the head of that agency, Cornele Overstreet, stated that the evidence supporting Amazon’s assertions “may be grounds for invalidating the election.”
Of the employees at Amazon’s JFK8 facility in Staten Island, 55% voted to become members of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), which has fought for improved pay and job security. About 58% of people voted.
The election was the first time in Amazon’s almost 28-year existence that U.S. employees voted to unionize, a triumph for organized labor, which has pushed for better worker rights at the nation’s second-largest privately-owned entity for years.
Overstreet did not say which of Amazon’s 25 complaints may be used to overturn the voting results. Beginning May 23, he said, the parties can give testimony, following which an NLRB hearing officer will suggest whether the decision should be upheld. The procedure might take many weeks.
According to Eric Milner, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, the threshold for obtaining a hearing is “extremely low,” and no authority has yet evaluated Amazon’s supposed proof.
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the business wants employees’ opinions to be heard, but that didn’t happen in this situation — less than a third of the workers at the facility voted for the union.
The NLRB has stated that its measures against Amazon are in accordance with the agency’s statutory authority.
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