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>The NLRB’s report on the Bessemer election found that Amazon illegally discouraged labor organizing, in part by pushing post office officials to install a mail

>The NLRB’s report on the Bessemer election found that Amazon illegally discouraged labor organizing, in part by pushing post office officials to install a mailbox outside the warehouse where workers were urged to drop their mail-in ballots, which an NLRB officer wrote “destroyed the laboratory conditions and justifies a second election.” Stupid question: how does getting a new post box discourage organising? I feel like I'm missing some clever trick...

Mathnerd314 5y ago
> Amazon had a ballot collection box installed in an employee parking lot “without authorization” from the NLRB’s regional director. The NLRB definitively denied Amazon’s request for a drop box on the warehouse property. Amazon installed one anyway. The box was placed under the view of Amazon security cameras, creating "an impression of surveillance." An employee testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox. In general, if you have a postbox tied to the company, then only people supporting the company will feel comfortable using it. Hence the votes will be biased anti-union.
- plandis 5y ago
  But why? The post box is presumably run by the USPS, not Amazon.
  - post-it 5y ago
    > An employee testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox. If this is true, then apparently not.
  - 28053144 5y ago
    "An employee testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox." Ignore the "testified" part -- even if this was just a rumor that somebody started, imagine the impact it would have.
- LatteLazy 5y ago
  Thanks, that makes more sense at least.
BitwiseFool 5y ago
Wait a minute, I thought mail-in ballots and ballot drop boxes were beyond reproach? Clearly not. But only when the stakes are lower than a federal election, apparently.
Y-bar 5y ago
> After the box was installed, Amazon sent a text message to workers urging them to vote against the union and to use the mailbox outside of their facilities—where Amazon surveillance cameras were trained. From an earlier article on the subject.
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slownews45 5y ago
I do worry it's a bad sign for union organizing if these are the types of issues they are focused on. A USPS post office box outside the warehouse. I mean, this is the big deal justifying a second election? I don't get it. The ballots are in envelopes, the envelopers or in a PO box. Heck, some people mail things (where I am) but dropping it on office managers deck in a box for outgoing mail. Because normal people are not filing complaints about the OPTION to use a mailbox run by USPS -> this just doesn't feel that compelling as a reason to run an entire election over.
- caoilte 5y ago
  It's hard to prove that Amazon manipulated the USPS postbox (even though there is good evidence) but it's easy to prove that they violated the rules by setting up a postbox that was easy for them to manipulate and which they practically forced employees to use. Reminds me of Sicily. Most local people used to go into the voting booth with a friend of the local mayor. They didn't have to. They could have gone alone. Hell, they could have complained that they were being intimidated. Strangely they didn't... You'd have fit in well.
  - fallingknife 5y ago
    How would it be easy for them to manipulate it? There were security cameras on it. People are acting like this is suspicious, but actually, it would be suspicious if there was no surveillance.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      Security cameras controlled by who exactly?
  - slownews45 5y ago
    How did they force employees to use this mailbox? They mailed these ballots to people at their houses. Literally that's another union complaint that folks who'd left the company got ballots because the cutoff for mailing happened before they left. So employees would need to bring this ballot INTO the company and then use the mailbox. The odd thing - the union is trying to make it HARDER for folks to vote. They blocked workers from just voting at the place they go to work every shift. Instead we have this big thing about having to mail in ballots. Then they block / complain about a USPS mailbox. What happened to voting rights? I'm also curious, who contested the 500 or so ballots that were not counted? Was that also the union?

Mathnerd314 5y ago

> Amazon had a ballot collection box installed in an employee parking lot “without authorization” from the NLRB’s regional director. The NLRB definitively denied Amazon’s request for a drop box on the warehouse property. Amazon installed one anyway. The box was placed under the view of Amazon security cameras, creating "an impression of surveillance." An employee testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox. In general, if you have a postbox tied to the company, then only people supporting the company will feel comfortable using it. Hence the votes will be biased anti-union.

plandis 5y ago
But why? The post box is presumably run by the USPS, not Amazon.
- post-it 5y ago
  > An employee testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox. If this is true, then apparently not.
- 28053144 5y ago
  "An employee testified to having seen company security guards open the mailbox." Ignore the "testified" part -- even if this was just a rumor that somebody started, imagine the impact it would have.
LatteLazy 5y ago
Thanks, that makes more sense at least.

BitwiseFool 5y ago

Wait a minute, I thought mail-in ballots and ballot drop boxes were beyond reproach? Clearly not. But only when the stakes are lower than a federal election, apparently.

Y-bar 5y ago

> After the box was installed, Amazon sent a text message to workers urging them to vote against the union and to use the mailbox outside of their facilities—where Amazon surveillance cameras were trained. From an earlier article on the subject.

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slownews45 5y ago

I do worry it's a bad sign for union organizing if these are the types of issues they are focused on. A USPS post office box outside the warehouse. I mean, this is the big deal justifying a second election? I don't get it. The ballots are in envelopes, the envelopers or in a PO box. Heck, some people mail things (where I am) but dropping it on office managers deck in a box for outgoing mail. Because normal people are not filing complaints about the OPTION to use a mailbox run by USPS -> this just doesn't feel that compelling as a reason to run an entire election over.

caoilte 5y ago
It's hard to prove that Amazon manipulated the USPS postbox (even though there is good evidence) but it's easy to prove that they violated the rules by setting up a postbox that was easy for them to manipulate and which they practically forced employees to use. Reminds me of Sicily. Most local people used to go into the voting booth with a friend of the local mayor. They didn't have to. They could have gone alone. Hell, they could have complained that they were being intimidated. Strangely they didn't... You'd have fit in well.
- fallingknife 5y ago
  How would it be easy for them to manipulate it? There were security cameras on it. People are acting like this is suspicious, but actually, it would be suspicious if there was no surveillance.
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    Security cameras controlled by who exactly?
- slownews45 5y ago
  How did they force employees to use this mailbox? They mailed these ballots to people at their houses. Literally that's another union complaint that folks who'd left the company got ballots because the cutoff for mailing happened before they left. So employees would need to bring this ballot INTO the company and then use the mailbox. The odd thing - the union is trying to make it HARDER for folks to vote. They blocked workers from just voting at the place they go to work every shift. Instead we have this big thing about having to mail in ballots. Then they block / complain about a USPS mailbox. What happened to voting rights? I'm also curious, who contested the 500 or so ballots that were not counted? Was that also the union?