A group of equipment maintenance and repair technicians in
Delaware successfully filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board
to hold a union election next month.
A second front has opened in Amazon.com’s battle with unions
— this one in the United States.
A small group of equipment maintenance and repair
technicians at Amazon’s Middletown, Del., warehouse successfully filed a
petition earlier this month to hold elections in January.
For the past several months Amazon has been battling German
workers. On Monday, more than 1,000 members of German’s Ver.di union, who don’t
have a contract, walked off the job at three Amazon warehouses there to protest
their pay.
On Dec. 6, the International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers filed a union election petition with the National Labor
Relations Board. The union, which also represents tens of thousands of Boeing
employees, needed support from at least 30 percent of the 30 workers that it is
hoping to represent in contract negotiations with Amazon.
Machinists spokesman John Carr wouldn’t disclose the number
of workers who petitioned to hold the election, which will happen Jan. 15.
“As an organization, our standard rule of thumb is that we
tend to require two-thirds [support before filing a petition] because things
are going to happen between now and that January election date,” Carr said.
The workers’ primary grievances, Carr said, are arbitrary
job classifications, promotion and vacation policies.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to how the company applies
policy,” Carr said.
Bloomberg Businessweek first reported the news of the union
election in Delaware.
Amazon has staunchly fought unionization efforts over the
years, and company spokeswoman Mary Osako said, “We ... do not believe there is
a need for third-party representation” at the Delaware warehouse.
“Amazon’s culture and business model are based on rapid
innovation, flexibility and open lines of direct communication between managers
and associates,” Osako said in a statement.
The company has no desire to seek union approval for
workplace changes that could make operations more efficient. Last year, for
example, Amazon spent $775 million to acquire Kiva Systems, which makes robots
that help automate picking items from vast warehouses. A union could try to
negotiate the implementation of those robots.
Osako said that the union is seeking to represent a small
fraction of the 1,500 employees at the Delaware facility. She added that Amazon
provides “competitive wages and comprehensive benefits” as well as bonuses and
stock awards and pays 95 percent of tuition fees for employees.
Even though the number of workers seeking representation is
small, Amazon is gearing up for the fight. It has retained Morgan, Lewis &
Bockius, a labor law firm that’s battled with unions in the past.
Even if the workers form a union, they’ll still have a tough
fight to win a contract. Despite some unionization efforts over the years, none
of the roughly 110,000 Amazon employees work under a union contract.
Source: The
Seattle Times
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