Official recommends rerun in Amazon union fight | Hacker News Reader

Official recommends rerun in Amazon union fight

bbc.com

77 pointsshivbhatt28 comments

Discussed previously:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28043724 (190 points/73 comments)

Amazon should give the appearance of mild opposition to the rerun, then allow it to happen, agreeing to/under the condition of massive government and media oversight, and likely the union will fail to win a second time by at least 15 points.

(There’s a reason companies don’t leave me in charge of their legal strategy efforts, but I suspect it’s much better for Amazon if the rerun happens. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the union is terrified of having a rerun.)

As much as Amazon sucks, I’m under the impression that the union cannot win a vote. The employees voted against unionizing not because of illegal intimidation, but 1) they knew Amazon would cut jobs and move elsewhere if they succeeded, 2) the condition and pay in Amazon warehouses, though sub-par, is much better then any other job in their area, and 3) these are places with general anti-union sentiment.

If we want to improve conditions for these people, we need to give them better opportunities and education. Right now Amazon is the hand that feeds them, and even if they were to unionize they’d just be the more-regulated hand that feeds them.

> The union specifically alleged that employees were pressured to drop ballots into a mailbox that was in view of Amazon cameras.

So having a United States Postal Service mailbox in an easy access location is grounds for revote? How would Amazon know how people voted? Were the ballots like postcards?

As I understand it, it was a mailbox installed at Amazon's insistence under very specific conditions. It looked thoroughly dodgy through and through, though of course legally was probably kosher. Amazon aren't dumb, and they have good lawyers.

If Amazon is confident that the last election was fair, they should expect another 70-30 trouncing of the union, and therefore welcome another vote.

If Amazon is confident the last election was fair, they would presumably see the current push as procedural nonsense designed to stop them from winning, and would be concerned that more redos just mean more opportunities for trickery. Would you feel the same way if it were Amazon calling for a do-over after a union victory?

There's an asymmetry of power here though. Amazon, had they lost the vote to the union, asking for a redo would be suspect. But because Amazon has the appearance of all the power and control should welcome redos.

I don't really see the asymmetry. The union campaign was run by a 60,000 member affiliate of the AFL-CIO, supported by multiple Senators, and arguably (he was vague about it) by the President of the United States. We could focus on Amazon's greater power to influence workplace conditions around the election, or the union's greater experience and pull with the NLRB. But really, the bottom line should be, both sides are large and powerful enough to meaningfully worry about the other side playing tricks.

And they'll keep recommending reruns until they get the answer they want.

Hey it worked for the EU.

It's that or just roll over and die.

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