Amazon Union Vote Counts On Thursday; Alabama Turnout Drops

On Thursday afternoon, labour board authorities in New York City and Alabama are expected to begin tallying votes cast by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

The warehouse workers in separate races will determine if Amazon sees a U.S. workplace unionize for the first time.

Amazon employees in Bessemer, Alabama, voted for re-election after rejecting the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) by a 2-to-1 margin last year.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered a re-run after discovering that Amazon had tampered with the vote.

The RWDSU reported on Wednesday that voter turnout in Alabama was down from last year. In the new election, only over 39% of the 6,143 workers designated to receive postal ballots voted, down from over 50% in 2021.

Workers in the Staten Island borough of New York City still had several hours to vote on Wednesday, and turnout was unknown.

An NLRB representative said the counts for both Bessemer and Staten Island are provisionally set to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, but that could change. Counting may take several days.

According to John Logan, a labor professor at San Francisco State University, low turnout may be good for Amazon’s union supporters.

“Supporters are more likely to be strong union voters,” he added. “Even a close election is likely to be a morale booster and moral win for the RWDSU in some ways.”

The NLRB was referred comments on the vote count and turnout by Amazon.

Hundreds of ballots were contested as ineligible for counting by parties in the Bessemer election, according to the RWDSU, based on voters’ employment dates, job type, and other concerns.

Those issues will be addressed when the remaining ballots are counted, and in the event of a tight election, they could change the outcome.