Amazon’s Alabama Warehouse Workers Reject Unionization
With 72% of ballots tallied, about 71% of the Amazon workers voted against joining the union, a media report says.
DAN WEIL
Amazon (AMZN) – Get Report shares rose Friday after media reports said employees at its Bessemer, Ala., warehouse rejected a unionization effort.
With 72% of ballots tallied, about 71% of the warehouse workers voted against signing up with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, according to a Wall Street Journal report of the vote.
Federal officials on Friday are finishing vote counts after counting about half on Thursday. A total of 3,215 ballots were submitted in voting that finished March 29, The Journal reports.
Union President Stuart Appelbaum said Thursday that the union would urge the National Labor Relations Board to “hold Amazon accountable” for allegedly illegal antiunion conduct during the drive, Yahoo reports.
A union challenge to the NLRB could last for months, and if it succeeds, it would nullify the results and trigger a second election.
Workers sought unionization to counter what they have called onerous and unsafe conditions created by Amazon at the fulfilment center.
Amazon’s response to the union in a blog: “It’s easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that’s not true. Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and media outlets than they heard from us.”
Amazon’s stock recently traded at $3,355, up 1.7%. It has gained 5% over the past six months, compared with 19% for the S&P 500, amid concern about its valuation.
On Monday, various media reported that the NLRB concluded Amazon last year illegally fired two employees who’d criticized the online-retail and tech giant’s climate impact, media reports say.
On Tuesday, Amazon and Facebook (FB) – Get Report received recognition as the top two megacap internet stocks from Evercore ISI.
As for internet shares in general, “our sector view is near-term pragmatic [after the strong rally of the past year], but long-term bullish,” Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a commentary.