Citing “flagrant disregard” of fair election rules by Amazon, the National Labor Relations Board has ordered a new election at the company’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The NLRB found that Amazon improperly interfered with the first election earlier this year.
NLRB Atlanta region director Lisa Y. Henderson cited the company’s flagrant disregard” of agency procedures that guarantee free and fair elections and that they had “essentially hijacked the process.” The decision was a victory for the union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union which is waging a continued campaign to unionize Amazon warehouse workers.
Portside reprint of article by Jay Greene in Washington Post, 11/29.
More than 120 workers across 11 regions at the National Audubon Society voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America in a string of official National Labor Relations Board elections last year, joining their colleagues in the organization’s national headquarters as members of CWA.
“Workers wanting to organize seem to be growing by the week,” writes Denver Post reporter Judith Kohler on the mushrooming activities of workers around the country seeking union representation. In the Denver area, she reports, 350 workers at Aurora HelloFresh are holding an NLRB mail ballot election that began Oct. 28 and will run through Nov. 22. Nine hundred HelloFresh workers in Richmond, Calif. are also balloting for union representation.
In Boulder, Colo. workers at Spruce Confections are organizing. If successful, it will be the first fast food service workers union in the Boulder area. Observed Robert Lindgren, Colorado AFL-CIO political and organizing director, it has become “a moment for workers.”
On Staten Island, New York City, four Amazon warehouses are reportedly organizing, undeterred by the defeat of a similar attempt at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. this past summer.
Hundreds of workers employed at Waste Management throughout Orange County, Cal. have won significant wage and pension, and healthcare increases after ratifying a groundbreaking contract. The workers are members of Local 396 of the Teamsters Union.
Sanitation workers have worked hard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 14 hours a day in order to ensure that communities are kept clean and safe. The pandemic has also drastically exposed the impact that low wages have had on the transportation industry. Sanitation companies throughout the United States including Waste Management are facing a shortage of drivers and are realizing that in order to retain qualified workers, they must increase wages and benefits, noted a statement from the union. Workers are seizing on this opportunity to gain contract improvements that will allow them to provide a better life for themselves and their families.
Contract highlights include drivers receiving an immediate $2.23 raise in hourly pay, double-time pay after 12 hours of service, and full maintenance of healthcare benefits with no increased cost to workers.
Teamsters Local 396 currently represents over 3,000 sanitation workers throughout Southern California. “The courage demonstrated by this group of essential workers who organized to win this contract is admirable, declared Ron Herrera, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396, “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the press has written about the importance of essential workers, but Corporate America still insisted on low wages. Our members stood strong and won major raises that will continue to lift standards in an industry that has historically exploited Latino immigrant workers.” The grit and tenacity of these members, noted Herrera, is what made this victory possible.
NLRB ORDERS NEW ELECTION IN AMAZON WAREHOUSE VOTE
Labor BriefsCiting “flagrant disregard” of fair election rules by Amazon, the National Labor Relations Board has ordered a new election at the company’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The NLRB found that Amazon improperly interfered with the first election earlier this year.
NLRB Atlanta region director Lisa Y. Henderson cited the company’s flagrant disregard” of agency procedures that guarantee free and fair elections and that they had “essentially hijacked the process.” The decision was a victory for the union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union which is waging a continued campaign to unionize Amazon warehouse workers.
Portside reprint of article by Jay Greene in Washington Post, 11/29.
A FEW RECENT LABOR TIDBITS:
Labor BriefsMore than 120 workers across 11 regions at the National Audubon Society voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America in a string of official National Labor Relations Board elections last year, joining their colleagues in the organization’s national headquarters as members of CWA.
CWA-Union.org
“Workers wanting to organize seem to be growing by the week,” writes Denver Post reporter Judith Kohler on the mushrooming activities of workers around the country seeking union representation. In the Denver area, she reports, 350 workers at Aurora HelloFresh are holding an NLRB mail ballot election that began Oct. 28 and will run through Nov. 22. Nine hundred HelloFresh workers in Richmond, Calif. are also balloting for union representation.
In Boulder, Colo. workers at Spruce Confections are organizing. If successful, it will be the first fast food service workers union in the Boulder area. Observed Robert Lindgren, Colorado AFL-CIO political and organizing director, it has become “a moment for workers.”
On Staten Island, New York City, four Amazon warehouses are reportedly organizing, undeterred by the defeat of a similar attempt at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. this past summer.
Denver Post, 11/2
CALIFORNIA SANITATION WORKERS RATIFY “GROUNDBREAKING” UNION CONTRACT
Labor BriefsHundreds of workers employed at Waste Management throughout Orange County, Cal. have won significant wage and pension, and healthcare increases after ratifying a groundbreaking contract. The workers are members of Local 396 of the Teamsters Union.
Sanitation workers have worked hard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 14 hours a day in order to ensure that communities are kept clean and safe. The pandemic has also drastically exposed the impact that low wages have had on the transportation industry. Sanitation companies throughout the United States including Waste Management are facing a shortage of drivers and are realizing that in order to retain qualified workers, they must increase wages and benefits, noted a statement from the union. Workers are seizing on this opportunity to gain contract improvements that will allow them to provide a better life for themselves and their families.
Contract highlights include drivers receiving an immediate $2.23 raise in hourly pay, double-time pay after 12 hours of service, and full maintenance of healthcare benefits with no increased cost to workers.
Teamsters Local 396 currently represents over 3,000 sanitation workers throughout Southern California. “The courage demonstrated by this group of essential workers who organized to win this contract is admirable, declared Ron Herrera, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396, “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the press has written about the importance of essential workers, but Corporate America still insisted on low wages. Our members stood strong and won major raises that will continue to lift standards in an industry that has historically exploited Latino immigrant workers.” The grit and tenacity of these members, noted Herrera, is what made this victory possible.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters publication, 10/18