“Amazon effort to thwart Alabama union drive suffers early defeat at labor board”, 02 December 2020

The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday rejected Amazon’s bid to delay a hearing on the union drive of Alabama workers into January, as the e-commerce giant signals its willingness to vigorously battle employees trying to organize.

The hiring of Morgan Lewis is one piece of Amazon’s efforts to thwart the organizing drive in a major labor battle against a company that has long opposed the unionization of its workforce. It’s also turning to the playbook companies often use to fight union drives, Givan said. One tactic: Push to include more workers in the proposed bargaining unit to make it harder for the union to reach those workers.

Amazon also cited the busy holiday shopping season as a reason to delay the hearing…

The union countered that there is no legal basis to support Amazon’s argument, calling it “a stretch to argue that any time spent discussing appropriate unit issues with managers would be extremely disruptive to fulfillment center’s operation.”

Employers battling unionization commonly try to delay NLRB hearings, Givan said. The longer the process, the more likely union-supporting workers in its warehouses, where turnover can be high, will move on, she said.

“It also gives the employer time to mount a massive anti-union campaign,” Givan said. “I think they are going to try every tactic to delay.”