Amazon leads by big margin in union vote at Alabama warehouse

The final result is expected to come on Friday

The counting of votes in one of the most important unionisation drive at Amazon's Bessemer warehouse in Alabama kicked off on Thursday, with warehouse workers appearing on track to reject unionisation by a 2-1 margin.

Out of the 3,215 ballots cast in the election, nearly half (1,563) were counted on the first day, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Of them, 1,100 votes were against unionisation, while 463 votes were in support.

The vote counting will resume on Friday morning.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which is organising the Bessemer workers, said late Wednesday that 55 per cent of roughly 5,800 workers cast ballots in the voting.

Ballots were mailed out to all eligible workers on 8 February and they were given until 29 March to mail in completed ballots to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

After receiving the ballots, the NLRB processed them to ensure that they were valid. The agency also allowed both parties an opportunity to challenge the eligibility of each ballot.

On Wednesday evening, NLRB officials opened letters and called out each voter's name so that Amazon or union representatives could challenge that voter's eligibility.

RWDSU said on Wednesday that Amazon has contested hundreds of ballots in the election, and that those ballots will be addressed after the public count is complete.

The challenged votes could delay the voting results if there is a tight race between the two parties.

"As the ballot envelopes are opened and the ballots are counted there's a possibility that more issues could impact the final results," RWDSU said in a statement.

Challenged ballots and other issues in the counting process would be resolved by the NLRB.

RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum also said on Thursday that their system had broken and Amazon took full advantage of that.

"We will be calling on the labour board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behaviour during the campaign," Appelbaum added.

As the initial results appeared to swing widely in Amazon's favour, the union criticised the company's tactics during the election.

The ecommerce giant for years has discouraged attempts among its US workers to organise.

In February, RWDSU alleged that the management was sending text messages to workers at the warehouse and asking them to attend anti-union meetings, despite the company's own social distancing policy.

Amazon was also accused of working with local authorities to get them to speed up traffic light switching outside the plant, so union organisers don't have time to hand out literature to passing workers.

It also emerged earlier this year that the company was offering $2,000 in 'resignation bonuses' to its workers if they decide to quit the company before the Alabama election.

The unionisation drive at the Amazon warehouse has also sparked huge political interest in the US, with President Joe Biden stating in a video message that every employee should have a fair choice to join a union, and that no employer could be allowed to take that choice from workers.

Biden also said that there should be no threats, intimidation, coercion or anti-union propaganda from employers, and that no manager should confront workers about their union preferences.