Nov. 7 (UPI) — An Alabama administrative law judge ruled that workers at Amazon ‘s fulfillment center in suburban Birmingham should vote for a third time to unionize.
Judge Michael Silverstein said Wednesday that the Retail, Wholesale& Department Store Union proved six incidents of unfair labor practices by Amazon at its center in Bessemer, Ala., in 2022. Silverstein set aside the results of that election, which Amazon disputed.
The center’s employees voted down unionization in 2021, but that decision was voided by the National Labor Relations Board after it ruled Amazon interfered with the election process.
It appeared employees voted down unionization by a narrow margin in 2022, but more than 300 ballots, enough to overturn the election, remained in dispute.
Silverstein said he chose to rule in favor of a third vote due in part to Amazon’s “unlawful confiscation of union materials from areas in the facility such as breakrooms and bathrooms.
“We never doubted that Amazon was going to take every opportunity, legal or not, to deny its employees at its Bessemer warehouse a free and fair election,” Stuart Applebaum, president of RWDSU, said in a statement .