Amazon seeks to block workers from voting by mail in landmark union drive
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/27/amazon-seeks-to-block-workers-from-voting-by-mail-in-landmark-union-drive
5,000 workers in Bessemer, Alabama, to vote in landmark effort
Mail ballots used in similar votes because of coronavirus
Amazon is attempting to force workers planning to unionize at an Alabama warehouse to vote in person rather than by mail as it fights off a landmark attempt by its staff to organize.
The company is appealing against a ruling by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officer to permit 5,800 employees at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, to begin casting ballots by mail to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
The NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing US labor law, favors manual elections but has moved to supporting mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. Between March and November 2020, 90% of union election representation cases presided by the NLRB were conducted by mail rather than in-person.
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