Union accuses Amazon of interfering

The retail union that failed to organize Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse wants the results of a recent vote to be thrown out, saying that the company illegally interfered with the process.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board that Amazon threatened workers with layoffs and even the closing of the warehouse if they unionized. It also said Amazon fired a pro-union employee, but declined to name the person.

Many of the other allegations by the union revolve around a mailbox that Amazon installed in the parking lot of the Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse. It said the mailbox created the false appearance that Amazon was conducting the election, intimidating workers into voting against the union. Security cameras in the parking lot could have recorded workers going to the mailbox, giving the impression that workers were being watched by the company and that their votes weren’t private, according to the retail union.

Amazon spokeswoman Heather Knox said the company did not threaten layoffs and that she couldn’t verify if an employee was fired without a name. She said the mailbox was installed to make it easier for employees to vote and that only the U.S. Postal Service had access to it.

Workers overwhelmingly voted against forming a union, with 1,798 rejecting it and 738 voting in favor of it.