“I'm very worried about what would happen should the union be voted in. Some Amazon workers who oppose the union, eight of whom spoke with BuzzFeed News, said they are concerned their current job conditions would be at risk even if the union wins.

We go to the table with Amazon … We’re the union, and we have the final say on the contract.”īut organizers' efforts continue to run up against Amazon’s message that union negotiations could leave workers worse off. We often tell them, we have to go through negotiations, what they have is protected. “They’re afraid of losing pay, afraid of losing benefits, or their job,” said Amazon employee and union organizer Jennifer Bates. Pro-union workers who spoke with BuzzFeed News said they have to work to convince their colleagues that a union victory will help, not harm, them. Earlier this month, workers filed a charge with the NLRB accusing Amazon of, among other things, requiring workers to attend meetings “where employees were told to specifically vote ‘no’ for the union, and threatened that if a union got them higher wages, it would take away from their benefits.” Amazon said it has “ fully complied with the law,” under which it is illegal to threaten employees with ' loss of benefits' or other 'adverse consequences.” Now, the union is alleging more of the same. The results of that election were thrown out after the National Labor Relations Board determined that Amazon had illegally interfered with the process. She and other workers have been mailing in their ballots since February as the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union tries again to win a union following its initial loss in 2021.

The pay and benefits are the reason Rancour said she voted against unionizing in the ongoing election at the warehouse where she works. 'If it weren't for Amazon's pay and benefits, we would be struggling to afford a place to live.” “I still make $3 more an hour than I did before,' she told BuzzFeed News. Her health insurance package also offered more coverage. When Kylee Rancour relocated from Massachusetts to Bessemer, Alabama, and took a job at Amazon, she was shocked to learn that her hourly wage would increase, even though Alabama’s minimum wage is only $7.25 compared to Massachusetts’s $14.25.

Amazon strike union