The ballot-counting process in a closely watched union election by thousands of Amazon.com Inc. workers in Bessemer, Ala., continued Monday, with an outcome possible this week.
The National Labor Relations Board has been going through mail-in ballots since March 30, the day after the voting period ended.
As the count has proceeded, Amazon has sought to highlight its $15-an-hour pay and benefits, even as the company has come under fire from critics over its working conditions and tax payments. The company apologized Friday for a tweet published on March 24 by its news account that incorrectly challenged accounts of workers having to at times urinate in bottles because of Amazon’s demanding schedule to deliver packages. The company said that while warehouse employees are able to use the restroom when needed, “we know that drivers can and do have trouble finding restrooms because of traffic or sometimes rural routes.”
As the voting process ended, Amazon began to defend itself on Twitter over its wages and other matters. Twitter Inc. last week also permanently suspended several accounts that had purported to be Amazon warehouse employees, according to a Twitter spokesman. The accounts had resembled those of “FC Ambassadors,” warehouse workers which Amazon has enlisted to post about the company on social media, including with comments that often defend it or speak positively about working conditions. Amazon said it didn’t have any connections to the fake accounts.
The election in Bessemer will determine whether the warehouse employees will become the first group to unionize among Amazon’s roughly 950,000 U.S. workers. Pro-union employees have sought help from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, or RWDSU, a frequent Amazon opponent that would represent the workers if they vote in favor of unionizing.
