Amazon Challenging Hundreds of Ballots in Union Vote

As ballots get counted on whether to unionize, Amazon is challenging hundreds of those votes in another bid to stave off unionization.

We’ve been following the story of Amazon’s potentially historic union vote. As those votes are getting tallied, more stories were emerging about the working conditions at the company. It even included an admission from Amazon about employees being forced to urinate in water bottles after previously denying that this happened. The aggressiveness of Amazon to stop the unionization of its employees has some experts thinking that Amazon is worried about the vote.

Now, a report is emerging that Amazon is not exactly slowing down its fight to stop the union movement. In fact, the company is reportedly challenging hundreds of ballots. From The Guardian:

Amazon has challenged hundreds of ballots in a vote to form a union at one of its warehouses in Alabama in a unionization drive seen as one of the most important labor fights in recent American history.

The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday began to open the ballots and start tabulating votes in the election in Bessemer, Alabama.

Some 3,215 votes were cast in the election out of more than 5,800 eligible employees. The election will determine if workers in Bessemer will form the first labor union at an Amazon warehouse in the US.

According to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, hundreds of ballots were challenged, mostly by Amazon.

“There remain hundreds of challenged ballots mostly by the employer that will need to be addressed after the public count. As the ballot envelopes are opened and the ballots are counted there’s a possibility that more issues could impact the final results,” the RWDSU said.

Another report notes that the voter turnout is estimated to be about 55%. That report also notes that the results are expected either today or tomorrow. It’s hard to say if the challenges could potentially delay things further. Still, the results are going to come down sooner or later at this point. We’ll continue to be on the lookout for results whenever they do come in.

Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.