Amazon's union pickle

Hi, it’s Matt in Seattle. Amazon is at a crossroads after a successful union drive in New York. But first...Today’s must-reads: Elon Musk ri [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, it’s Matt in Seattle. Amazon is at a crossroads after a successful union drive in New York. But first... Today’s must-reads: - Elon Musk risks a [new fight with the SEC]( over his Twitter shares - Meta cancelled its [annual developers conference]( to focus on the metaverse - Hackers posing as [flirtatious women]( are targeting Israeli officials Amazon watch Amazon.com Inc. lost a union election. Now it has a choice to make. The upstart Amazon Labor Union, led by fired Amazon employee Chris Smalls, pulled off the first-ever successful union drive among the retail giant’s U.S. warehouses. In a [vote]( of 2,654 to 2,131, workers at a Staten Island, New York, building called JFK8 gave the embattled U.S. labor movement its [biggest win]( in recent memory. Amazon executives have been mostly quiet since the union clinched its victory, though Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy and his predecessor, Jeff Bezos, each [took time]( on Wednesday [to tweet]( about the top marks LinkedIn gave Amazon in a ranking of best U.S. workplaces to grow a career. In a two-sentence [statement]( posted online after the union election results, the company said it was disappointed by the outcome and evaluating its options. What do those options look like? The company has a reputation for going fire and brimstone when challenged by outsiders. It has threatened to pull up stakes in states that proposed taxing the company, and abandoned plans for a corporate campus in New York City after blowback included politicians pushing Amazon to stay neutral in union elections. However, its recourse is more limited when it comes to challenges from its own employees. Amazon has assiduously sought to avoid unions in its workforce, and has said that contracts with employees could constrain the fast-moving company’s ability to make changes to its business. Some labor experts think Amazon will to turn to a well-worn legal playbook used by corporations trying to hold organized labor at arm’s length. After an election, employers can file objections to a union’s conduct with the National Labor Relations Board. Then if the NLRB won’t toss the results, they can slow-walk bargaining talks. If there’s no contract between employer and union a year from the date an election is finalized, workers can call for a vote to dissolve the bargaining unit entirely. In Staten Island, there were more than 2,000 people who voted “no” on unionization, and they may be interested in such a petition. Amazon also offered a hint that it may mount a broader objection to the process. The company’s statement last week linked to commentary from business groups who allege that the NLRB tipped the scale in favor of workers in the Staten Island election by ordering the reinstatement of a fired activist employee. That’s not an argument that’s likely to succeed before the NLRB itself, says Sally Klingel, who teaches labor-management relations at Cornell’s ILR School. But if the company’s goal is to tie up the matter in federal courts, Amazon may have previewed its strategy. Of course, the company could also just accept the outcome. After Amazon defeated a union drive last year in Bessemer, Alabama, it said the [workers had spoken](: “Amazon didn’t win—our employees made the choice to vote against joining a union.” But even that vote is unsettled. The results of a rerun election at the warehouse in Bessemer remain too close to call after the NLRB determined Amazon had interfered in the first vote. Today, the company’s next move will represent “a big strategy decision on their part,” Klingel said. “It’s unclear whether they feel that this is a tipping point, where they’re just going to have to accept that there are union contracts” among their U.S. workforce, or if they’ll continue to fight back. Amazon is one of the country’s largest employers, and facing pandemic blowback on labor practices, it has run ads pointing out its benefits and starting pay that is significantly higher than the federal minimum wage. That hasn’t satisfied many of its critics—including, apparently, Joe Biden. Speaking to a labor group on Wednesday, the president appeared to break from prepared remarks, leaning toward the microphone: “By the way, Amazon, here we come. Watch.” Amazon didn’t respond to a request for comment on Biden’s statement. But the company won’t stay silent for long. Objections to the union’s New York win are due at the NLRB by Friday. —[Matt Day](mailto:mday63@bloomberg.net) The big story Jeff Bezos got divorced and stirred up an international conspiracy theory. Listen to the latest episode of the [Bloomberg podcast]( Foundering: The Amazon Story. What else you need to know Uber is adding plane, train and hotel bookings as it tries to become the [super app of travel](. Tiger Global led a $350 million investment in the [Near Protocol blockchain](. The public markets may be stumbling, but money is [still gushing]( for venture firms. What to watch: Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier talks to Bloomberg TV about what’s happening at the [Miami Bitcoin conference](. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both? 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