Amazon demands election re-run after workers vote for union representation

Chris Smalls, a Staten Island-based Amazon distribution centre union organiser, celebrating with union members after getting the voting results to unionise workers. AP

Amazon.com on Friday called for an election re-run after workers at a New York City warehouse voted to create the company's first US union, saying that the country's labour board and worker-organisers suppressed turnout.

The Amazon Labour Union rejected the allegations made by the online retailer that is the second-largest US private employer.

Amazon made its demand a week after the landmark victory for organised labour, which for years has sought to offer protections to workers at the company.

About 55 per cent of employees who voted from Amazon's JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island opted to join the ALU, which has argued for higher pay and job security. Turnout was about 58 per cent.

“We want our employees to have their voices heard, and in this case, that didn't happen — fewer than a third of the employees at the site voted for the union,” Amazon representative Kelly Nantel said in a statement.

Amazon also accused the ALU of intimidating workers and distributing marijuana to gain votes in its favour, according to a company filing on Friday.

Derrick Palmer, vice president of the ALU, said Amazon is trying to “demean our character and undermine our efforts".

The US National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) now must process Amazon's objections before certifying the election result. The timing for this was not clear.

In its filing, Amazon said the NLRB improperly helped the ALU gain standing to hold an election and created the impression that it supported the union. Amazon also accused the NLRB of hampering turnout through mismanagement in the polling area and by allowing camera crews on site that scared voters away.

An NLRB representative declined to comment on these objections but the board has said previously that it is independent and that its enforcement actions against Amazon have been consistent with its congressional mandate.

The ALU argued against Amazon's claims, saying the company did not contest low turnout in a union election in Alabama when workers voted against organising.

The ALU said it was Amazon that had intimidated workers, and the union has filed dozens of unfair labour practice charges against the company.