Amazon is facing consequences for playing dirty.
The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board announced Monday that Amazon workers in the company's Alabama warehouse would be allowed to re-vote on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union.
Workers voted against unionizing by a wide margin. The RWDSU sued Amazon for interfering in the vote by intimidating employees.
The director of the National Labor Relations Board did not make a decision on the Amazon case until Monday. The authorization to re-vote was seen as a rebuke of Amazon and a second chance for employees.
Stuart Applebaum, the RWD, said that the decision confirms what they have been saying all along - that Amazon's interference prevented workers from having a fair say in whether they wanted a union in their workplace. Amazon workers need to be represented by a union to have a voice at work.
Amazon has been reached for comment.
Amazon made its workers attend mandatory meetings about why unionizing was not in their interest, according to the RWDSU. The RWDSU said that Amazon placed a mailbox at the warehouse during the vote, which made workers feel intimidated.
Over 3,200 Amazon workers cast ballots in the April vote. The vote was seen as a bellwether for other unionization drives. Worker advocates said that the fact that workers organized as much as they did showed that the movement had promise.
