Update on Amazon Unions

I last posted about this topic back on February 18th.  Since then, the warehouses workers in Bessemer, Alabama have had their time to cast their votes on the issue.  More than 5,000 ballots were mailed out to the workers of BHM1, the building in Bessemer.  The vote that will decided if these individuals will join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union was closed on March 29th.

I've been reading up on this topic, trying to understand how both sides are communicating with the workers.  The RWDSU communication is mostly trying to let employees know that it is their right to be able to vote on this issue, regardless of what else they might hear.  It is also important to note that they are informing workers that Alabama is a right-to-work state, which means that workers at unionized companies can opt out of paying dues.  Amazon, on the other hand, is inundating their workers with anti-union messaging and often resorting to intimidation, which makes me believe that they are scared that this vote could pass.

For instance, Amazon has set up a website called "Do It Without Dues' where they have messaging about what employees would be missing out on if they had to pay a $500 union fee from their wages (even though employees would not necessarily have to pay dues, as stated above).  The company also touts its benefits on the website, such as a relatively high starting salary and health options.  Within their warehouses, employees see paper flyers in the restrooms called "InSTALLments" with messages trying to persuade employees away from supporting the union vote.  An article by Vox states that ‘workers are pulled off the line and into classroom-style meetings in which management delivers long anti-union speeches that can last hours, and have had managers pull them aside to quiz them on their company loyalty.’  The company even 'asked county officials to increase “maximum green times” on the warehouse stoplight to clear the parking lot faster. This made it difficult for union canvassers to approach potential voters as they left work. Amazon declined to comment.’

While I can understand a company wanting to communicate their viewpoint on unionization, these tactics seem slimy, unethical and borderline illegal due to their intensely coercive nature.  The employees in the warehouse are worried for their livelihood.  Many of them need their jobs to put food on the table for their families and are barely scraping by, even with the so-called 'higher wages' that Amazon speaks of.  The company ended the barely significant $2 pay bump they had started for pandemic pay in June of 2020.  Instead, Amazon's profits increased by $9.4 billion from 2019 and their CEO's net work increased by $68 billion.  An analysis by The Brookings Institution, calculated that 'Amazon could have quintupled the hazard pay it provided to workers during the pandemic and still exceeded 2019 profits.'

An article by The Guardian cited a 'report by The Economic Policy Institute in December 2019 found employers are charged with violating federal law in more than 54% of union elections with large bargaining units and US employers spend roughly $340m annually on consultants who specialize in union avoidance.’  Another article from The New York Times cites a researcher at Cornell who found that among unionization efforts, '89% of employers held mandatory anti-union meetings, 57% threatened to close operations if workers unionized, 47% threatened to cut wages or benefits, and 34% fired union supporters.'  Apparently, under current law, there is not a penalty to employers who illegally fire workers for supporting a union.  Clearly, Amazon is not alone, as an employer, in their sketchy battle against unionization.  Just because other companies have taken similar actions in the past, does that make it right?  I personally don't believe that unions are needed in every business or every industry, but having experiences Amazon's warehouses first-hand, I am leaning pro-union in this instance.

When I worked at Amazon, I felt like a number.  Not a human with distinct personality traits and likes and dislikes, but a simple number.  A cog in a machine.  Hourly employees in BHM1 and other warehouses that have been part of demonstrations during this pandemic report feeling a similar way.  They claim that this fight isn't about starting salary, but instead about dignity.  One outspoken union supporter recalls being described as 'a cancer and a disease to Amazon and the facility' by managers in their building.  In a New York Times article, Darryl Richardson, a picker at BHM1 in Alabama, describes his experience in a similar manner as I have.  He says, 'You're running at a consistent, fast pace.  You ain't got time to look around.  You get treated like a number.  You don't get treated like a person.  They work you like a robot.'

Even Amazon owned, Washington Post, has reported these negative findings about the unionization efforts.  They do, however, add that 'Amazon sees unionization as a threat to its ability to bring technical innovations to its warehouses that reduce reliance on workers, such as robots.'  Unfortunately, the excessive profit that the company saw throughout this pandemic, while their workers struggled, tends to lessen the belief of this statement for many.  

Even though the voting period ended on March 29th, most believe that this issue will not be resolved for some time.  NPR wrote an article stating that "regardless of the outcome, Amazon or the union are expected to pursue legal challenges."  A Washington Post article similarly says how "with so much at stake, each side could challenge dozens, if not hundreds, of votes."

Amazon could argue that some of the mail-in votes are not valid, as a number of employees have left the company during the voting period. On the other hand, the RWDSU could claim that “conduct by the employer created an atmosphere of confusion or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees’ freedom of choice."  The whole thing is sort of a mess and may be a challenge to untangle.

If the results ultimately are for unionization, the employee fight is far from over. The next steps would be negotiating with Amazon to ratify a contract where the behemoth would likely attempt to stonewall the union at the bargaining table. Amazon will do this because they believe "unions could lead to workplace rules that limit its ability to rapidly hire and cut workers to meet shopping demands that spike and recede throughout the year."

We shall see how this vote unfolds in the coming days.

-Vicky