People hold a banner at the Amazon facility as members of a congressional delegation arrive to show their support for workers who will vote on whether to unionize, in Bessemer, Alabama, U.S. March 5, 2021.
Dustin Chambers | Reuters
The National Labor Relations Board will hold a hearing on May 7 to review objections to a recent union election at one of Amazon‘s Alabama warehouses, the union that led the campaign said Tuesday.
In an April 16 complaint, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union accused Amazon of interfering in the closely watched union campaign held earlier this month at the company’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse. Bessemer employees overwhelmingly rejected unionization, with fewer than 30% of the votes tallied in favor of joining the RWDSU.
The union requested that the labor board set aside the election results. The union accused Amazon of retaliating against pro-union employees and threatening widespread layoffs and closing the facility if employees voted for the union, among other complaints.
Amazon has rejected the RWDSU’s claims that it interfered in the election. “Rather than accepting these employees’ choice, the union seems determined to continue misrepresenting the facts in order to drive its own agenda,” Amazon spokeswoman Heather Knox previously told CNBC.
The hearing will be overseen by the labor board’s regional director, who has the power to throw out the results. Either party can appeal the regional director’s ruling to the NLRB in Washington, which can also order a new election.
The NLRB confirmed the hearing date but declined to comment further. Amazon declined to comment.
Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that Amazon has rejected the RWDSU’s claims that it interfered in the election.
