A labor judge ruled that Amazon failed to recognize the Teamsters union as required by law.
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Amazon has been ordered to collectively bargain with workers at its California warehouses, Bloomberg reported. A labor judge ruled that Amazon violated federal law when it refused to recognize the Teamsters union after it received support from majority of workers at a San Francisco delivery center. However, Amazon vowed to appeal the order to an NLRB board that could soon be dominated by Trump appointees. The board could then overturn the ruling and use the new precedent to set back the recent wins made by unions formed by Amazon staffers.
The judge’s ruling is based on a precedent set during the more labor-friendly Biden administration. Called Cemex, it requires companies to bargain with labor groups that sign up a legitimate majority of staff. Failing that, firms must ask the NLRB to hold an election testing its support. Amazon did neither of those things, the judge ruled.
“We disagree with this administrative law judge’s decision, we’re appealing it, and we’re confident that a court will overrule it,” an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. Amazon denied any wrongdoing and said it believed that the Cemex precedent is unlawful. With the NLRB board stripped down by Trump (illegally, according to Senator Elizabeth Warren), Amazon could use the case as a way to undo Cemex.
Amazon workers have made unionization inroads over the past few years. Staten Island workers won an NLRB election several years ago, and Philadelphia Whole Food workers also formed a union. However, neither of those efforts has led to collective bargaining. “Amazon’s strategy these last few years has been to delay, delay, delay,” the Teamsters organization said in a press release earlier this year. With big changes potentially coming to the NLRB, Jeff Bezos’ company may be able to undo that progress soon.
