NLRB Must Watch Out for Anti-Union Tactics in Bessemer Rerun Election

Date: February 10, 2022

Contact: mediacenter@freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org

What They’re Saying
NLRB Must Watch Out for Anti-Union Tactics in Bessemer Rerun Election

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) began sending ballots to workers at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse as part of its “rerun election,” following the company’s interference in the previous union drive. The nation’s leading labor agency has a responsibility to closely monitor this redo and ensure that Amazon workers have an opportunity to vote freely — especially given the company’s egregious record of stifling employee voices. Here’s a reminder of why the NLRB needs to keep a close eye out as the election kicks off:

  • Kathy Drew King, NLRB Regional Director for Region 29: “Workers have the right under federal labor law to join and form unions and employers are prohibited from interfering with that right. Today the NLRB issued a complaint against Amazon alleging that the company repeatedly broke the law by threatening, surveilling, and interrogating their Staten Island warehouse workers who are engaged in a union organizing campaign.”
  • Jennifer Bates, a worker at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse: “The mailbox’s continued existence on Amazon’s property stands as a stark physical memorial of a tainted election.”
  • Christian Smalls, lead organizer of the Amazon Labor Union: “@amazon couldn’t resist calling the cops while @amazonlabor peacefully rallied in honor of #MLKDay Further proving the disconnect they have with their workers who were the ones who put this event together.”
  • Brett Daniels, a night shift worker at Amazon’s Staten Island facility who is assisting with the ongoing union drive: “[The New York Police Department] searched me because they were trying to get my ID. … They got my Amazon ID badge. Then they took all of my belongings out of my pockets and took them with them, and put me in the back of the cop car and took me to the station, and held me in a holding cell for a little less than two hours.” 
  • Coalition to Defend Amazon Workers: “Wow. @amazon @JFK8 is purposely covering up @NLRB @NLRBGC the NLRA union election notice. Amazon doesn’t want a fair election because they know they will lose.”

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The Free & Fair Markets Initiative (FFMI) is a nonprofit watchdog group committed to promoting a fair, modern marketplace that works for all Americans. For more information on the Free & Fair Markets Initiative, please visit https://freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org/

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