On Friday, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama warehouse voted decisively to stay non-unionized:
BREAKING: Amazon gains enough votes to beat union effort, counting continues https://t.co/cOprCIrNbi
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) April 9, 2021
The vote wasn’t even close:
Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse voted against forming a union, by a margin of more than 2:1. Former @NLRB Chairman @MarkGPearceWRI explains the impact of the vote, and the future of organized labor in the U.S. under President Biden. $AMZN pic.twitter.com/5oz04OsaTh
— Power Lunch (@PowerLunch) April 9, 2021
And when asked about it at the press briefing on Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden would not recognize the result until the NLRB weighed in:
LOL. @PressSec Jen Psaki says @JoeBiden is not going to recognize the Amazon union election results until the NLRB weighs in. So much for respecting the results of elections.
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) April 9, 2021
LOL. “So much for respecting the results of elections” now:
Psaki is asked about workers' push to unionize. She says it is a workforce's decision to form a union, but that Biden is committed to improving conditions for unions. Says White House will withhold further comment until NLRB finalizes count https://t.co/bJC9pm1AOI pic.twitter.com/e01MYw8PUO
— Scripps National News (@ScrippsNational) April 9, 2021
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is planning on challenging the vote:
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BREAKING: @RWDSU says that Amazon illegally interfered in the #BAmazonUnion vote in Bessemer, and the union will be filing unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB.
“We won’t rest until workers' voices are heard fairly under the law.” – @sappelbaum pic.twitter.com/pVGkXtqYZT
— Kim Kelly (@GrimKim) April 9, 2021
So, why did the vote fail so badly?
Legitimate question from my own ignorance: Why did the Amazon union drive fail in Alabama? What are the reasonable theories?
— Foster (@foster_type) April 9, 2021
Here the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel who has been talking to Amazon workers in Alabama to get their thoughts:
1. Union wanted the vote to be limited to a 1500-worker unit, which they thought was winnable. Amazon won out at NLRB and got an all-employee vote.
2. Voting was well underway, with the union losing, before Biden et al decided to jump in.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 9, 2021
3. In labor terms, the facility was a "hot shop," where there hadn't been any organizing before one worker called the union. A winning campaign typically has a big head start.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 9, 2021
4. Amazon paid high wages for the area, with decent benefits, and as other folks are saying they ran a very smart anti-union campaign, up to an including a mail drop box for ballots on the way into work.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 9, 2021
Maybe Dems will have to come to grips with the fact that “change” to everyone is not a good thing?
I just wonder what’s the calculus of the voter is. Is it a simple calculation that the immediacy of dues outweigh hypothetical gains in the future? Or were there other ideological arguments at play.
— Foster (@foster_type) April 9, 2021
Yeah, the Amazon argument was that this union wasn't actually going to do anything for people, just take their money. The "no" workers I talked to said they had hard but rewarding jobs and didn't need a change.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 9, 2021
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