Votes against Amazon union lead after first day of ballot counting

Amazon union RWDSU vote Bessember Alabama warehouse — Union organizers Syrena (R) and Steve (no last names given) wave to cars exiting an Amazon fulfillment center on March 27, 2021 in Bessemer, Alabama.
Getty/PATRICK T. FALLON

The NLRB has paused its counting of Amazon employees' votes over whether to unionize.
As of Thursday evening, votes against unionizing led by a margin of 1,100 to 463.
The NLRB expects to resume counting the votes Friday, but the results will likely be challenged.
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Votes against forming a union at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, lead by a more than 2-1 margin after the first day of counting ballots.

The National Labor Relations Board paused its public counting of Amazon employees' ballots shortly after 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday with the anti-union votes leading 1,100 to 463.

The NLRB plans to resume counting ballots again on Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

While the remaining ballots are likely to be counted Friday, it could take the NLRB several weeks to announce the official outcome of the vote due to likely challenges from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union - the labor group under which Amazon's Bessemer employees would unionize if the vote passes.

"Our system is broken, Amazon took full advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labor board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behavior during the campaign. But make no mistake about it; this still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard," RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum told Insider in a statement.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Per NLRB rules for union votes, both Amazon and the RWDSU can file objections within five days of the conclusion of the count. The NLRB then decides whether the objections are serious enough to warrant a hearing where it will determine whether the vote results should be set aside.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Amazon pushed the United States Postal Service to install a mailbox outside the Bessemer warehouse at the start of the voting period in February, which the RWDSU previously argued violates labor laws by intimidating workers and implying Amazon plays a role in collecting and counting ballots.

"This mailbox - which only the USPS had access to - was a simple, secure, and completely optional way to make it easy for employees to vote, no more and no less," Amazon spokeswoman Heather Knox told The Post.

Before Thursday's public vote count, both Amazon and the RWDSU also had the opportunity to challenge employees' eligibility to cast a ballot. Hundreds of ballots were challenged, mostly by Amazon, according to the RWDSU, which could potentially impact the outcome as well.

This year Amazon appealed to change the NLRB's practices. In February, Insider reported that the NLRB had denied Amazon's request to conduct an in-person union election, saying that the company must allow mail-in voting. And after the close of voting on March 29, the NLRB denied a request by Amazon for increased surveillance on the room where ballots were stored in the labor board's Birmingham, Alabama, headquarters.

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