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Amazon pushing for union vote to take place in person saying it’s “the best approach to a valid and fair election”

In this photo illustration Amazon logo displayed on a smartphone. (Photo by Mateusz Slodkowski / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

NEW YORK (77WABC) – Amazon is once again asking the National Labor Relations Board to direct its approximately six thousand warehouse workers at an Alabama facility to cast votes in-person on whether to form a union, rather than by mail, despite the ongoing pandemic. Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, did not object to mail-in voting during the Presidential election.

Amazon filed a motion on January 21st to delay the union election, which is set to begin February 8. Amazon wants the NLRB to revisit its decision to hold the election by mail over the course of nearly two months rather than an in-person event.

The union vote is a huge milestone moment for Amazon. While some Amazon workers have unionized in Europe, the company has so far fended off unions in the United States. In 2014, a union election was held at a Delaware warehouse, but workers rejected unionizing.

In a statement to CNN Business, Amazon spokesperson Heather Knox said the company believes, “the best approach to a valid, fair and successful election is one that is conducted manually, in-person, making it easy for associates to verify and cast their vote in close proximity to their workplace. Amazon provided the NLRB with a safe, confidential and convenient proposal for associates to vote onsite which is in the best interest of all parties — associate convenience, vote fidelity, and timeliness of vote count…We will continue to insist on measures for a fair election, and we want everyone to vote, so our focus is ensuring that’s possible.”

The NLRB declined to comment on Amazon’s request.

Several lawmakers such as Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been advocating for employees of the e-commerce giant to unionize.

Amazon doesn’t want its workers to form a union because unionized workers have:
– higher wages
– better benefits
– more control over their lives

If Amazon workers in Alabama vote to form a union, that will benefit every worker in America. https://t.co/g2Zfa6DEgc

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 21, 2021