Amazon is going full speed in its attempt tp bust up a union drive in Alabama.
According to NPR, “A filing, posted by the National Labor Relations Board, says Amazon workers at the fulfillment center outside of Birmingham want to form a bargaining unit of all 1,500 full- and part-time employees at the facility, to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
Such a filing typically requires at least 30% of the workers signing paperwork to say they want a union. The NLRB plans a hearing on Dec. 11 as it determines whether the petition meets the criteria to proceed to an election. A RWDSU spokesperson declined to comment.”
If successful, the Amazon warehouse would be the first one in the country to unionize and would mark a pivotal moment for the labor movement.
Living up to its union-busting reputation, Amazon is pulling out all the stops for this election drive, including hiring a former NLRB member – Republican, of course – to quash the push.
Bloomberg reports that the company “has hired Harry Johnson, a former Republican member of the National Labor Relations Board, to help the company defend against a union election at an Alabama warehouse. Johnson, who served on the board from 2013 to 2015, is one of two attorneys representing the e-commerce giant in the case, according to government filings released under a public records request. The other is Nicole Buffalano, a former NLRB attorney who negotiated unfair labor practice settlements and oversaw union elections for the New York and Los Angeles regional offices. Both attorneys are with management-side firm Morgan Lewis.”
For more on this story, visit NPR and Bloomberg.
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