By Greg Bensinger
(Reuters) – Amazon is facing its second workers’ union vote in as many months as laborers at a warehouse in suburban Raleigh, North Carolina, decide this week whether they wish to collectively bargain with the retail giant.
Workers at the five-year-old warehouse in the city of Garner will vote through Friday to join or reject the upstart Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE, which seeks to push Amazon for higher wages, longer breaks and more scheduling flexibility, among other things. They will need a simple majority among voters to join the union.
In January, workers at a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia voted to unionize, the first successful organizing effort at the national grocery chain that Amazon acquired in 2017 for nearly $14 billion.
A successful union vote could open the door to further organizing at one of Amazon’s roughly 1,000 warehouses scattered across the U.S., potentially increasing its labor and logistics costs. A failed vote, on the other hand, could put a chill on organizers’ efforts.
Italo Medelius-Marsano, secretary for CAUSE, said the group is hoping to negotiate for wages of as much as $30 per hour and breaks of an hour, double what he said was the current time allowed for lunch, as well as better job protections. “We deserve better for the work we do day in and day out,” said Medelius-Marsano, 28, who staffs the warehouse’s shipping dock. “Amazon can afford to pay its workers better than they do.”
Amazon has vigorously rejected prior union actions, arguing that workers are better served by seeking changes directly with the company. Despite a successful 2022 union drive at a warehouse in Staten Island, Amazon is yet to recognize the group or negotiate with workers; and it is battling allegations of misconduct during two union votes at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, for which the National Labor Relations Board has ruled a third election should be held.
Earlier this month, Whole Foods asked the NLRB to dismiss the results of the local election after the Trump administration fired two members of the agency, leaving it with only two board members, which it said is too few to certify the election results. Whole Foods also alleged the union coerced and intimidated workers in an effort to win the election.
RETALIATION ALLEGED
Meanwhile, Amazon has challenged the constitutionality of the NLRB itself in a September federal lawsuit.
An Amazon spokesperson, Eileen Hards, said the company opposed the formation of the union in North Carolina. “We’ve always said that we want our employees to have their voices heard, and we hope and expect this process allows for that,” said Hards in a statement, referring to the union vote. “We believe our employees favor opportunities to have their unique voice heard by working directly with our team.”
She said pay starts at $18.50 at the warehouse, more than double the state’s minimum wage.
Workers at several Amazon warehouses, from California to New York, walked off their jobs in December during the peak holiday shopping season. The strikes were organized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Medelius-Marsano said Amazon had already begun work to oppose the vote among the roughly 4,700 workers at the Garner facility, including playing anti-union messages on a loop in breakrooms and encouraging employees to attend voluntary meetings where officials push a “no” vote. Hards said Amazon has acted within its rights as an employer.
Several workers at the facility filed complaints with the NLRB last week alleging Amazon had retaliated against them for their union activity, including firing them or withholding benefits. Hards said Amazon “does not retaliate against employees for exercising their rights.”
(Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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