Alabama Amazon workers reject union bid
Amazon workers voted against forming a union at a warehouse in Alabama, handing the online retail giant a decisive victory and cutting off a path that labor activists had hoped would lead to similar efforts throughout the company and beyond.
After months of aggressive campaigning from both sides, 1,798 warehouse workers ultimately rejected the union while 738 voted in favor of it, according to the National Labor Relations Board, which is overseeing the process.
In this March 30 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala.
Of the 3,117 votes cast, 76 or the Retail, Wholesale and were voided and 505 were Department Store Union, contested by either Amazon which led the organizing efforts in Bessemer. But the NLRB said the contested votes were not enough to sway the outcome.
The union said it would file an objection with the NLRB charging the company with illegally interfering with the union vote. It will seek a hearing with the labor board to determine if the results “should be set aside because conduct by the employer created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/ or fear of reprisals.” The union accused Amazon of spreading disinformation about the unionization effort at meetings that workers were required to attend.
The flow of wastewater to Tampa Bay from the old Piney Point phosphate plant site dropped significantly by late Thursday, according to the Department of Environmental Protection, and a dive team identified a possible source for the leak that spurred an emergency in Manatee County.
An estimated 202 million gallons of polluted water have been discharged to the bay through Port Manatee, the state said. Crews had been draining water from the reservoir at a rate of 38 million gallons per day as of Wednesday. Some is being kept in other storage at Piney Point.
Flows to the port slowed to less than 5 million gallons a day by Thursday afternoon, according to a Department of Environmental Protection estimate. The discharge had actually stopped as of about 5 p.m., said Weesam Khoury, a spokeswoman for the agency. Regulators were hoping to get two companies in place at Piney Point to start removing some nutrients from the water before having to restart releases.
Their goal, Khoury said, is to lower levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the wastewater, which are a concern for Tampa Bay. Excess nutrients could cause algal blooms that