FILE - In this Tuesday, March 30, 2021 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Amazon workers voted against forming a union, Friday, April 9, in Alabama, handing the online retail giant a decisive victory and cutting off a path that labor activists had hoped would lead to similar efforts throughout the company and beyond. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, File)
Jay Reeves / AP
Jay Reeves / AP
FILE - In this Tuesday, March 30, 2021 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Amazon workers voted against forming a union, Friday, April 9, in Alabama, handing the online retail giant a decisive victory and cutting off a path that labor activists had hoped would lead to similar efforts throughout the company and beyond. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, File)
(Washington) — Despite the strongest public support and the most sympathetic president in years, the American labor movement just suffered a stinging defeat — again.
Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, overwhelmingly voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in much-anticipated election results announced Friday.
Amazon and business groups celebrated the decision, saying warehouse workers got a chance to weigh the pros and cons of union membership — and voted to reject it.
But labor activists argue that the lopsided vote shows how unfairly the odds are stacked against union organizing efforts and highlight the need for Congress to reform U.S. labor law.
The House last month passed such legislation, but it looks likely to die in the Senate.
The retail union is now filing a legal challenge to the election and charges of unfair labor practices against Amazon. It’s requesting a hearing by the National Labor Relations Board “to determine if the results of the election should be set aside because conduct by the employer created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees’ freedom of choice.”
Amazon rejected the allegations Friday, adding in a statement: “Amazon didn’t win — our employees made the choice to vote against joining a union.” Nearly 5,900 people work at Amazon’s Bessemer facility, and more than half cast ballots in the election.
The union push in Bessemer has been the most consequential labor battle in decades. With a ballooning warehouse workforce, Amazon has grown into the second-largest private employer in the U.S., with more than 800,000 employees.
NPR contributed to this story.
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