Amazon workers narrowly reject union in historic vote (49.5% vs 50.5%)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8vd72zrpr1o

by Tinyjar

25 comments

  1. > The online giant would have been forced to negotiate with workers on issues such as pay and conditions.

    What possible reason is there for voting **against** this?

    > In April the union launched a legal challenge against Amazon, claiming it used underhand tactics to encourage members to cancel their union membership.

    I heard something on Reddit about this but not sure how true it was.

    I heard they had QR codes on posters around the building and scanning it would automatically generate an email that cancelled their union membership.

    Does anyone have any evidence that this is true? Because surely that can’t be legal?

  2. Curious to know how much of Amazons workers are immigrants.

  3. I’d be curious how legitimate the vote was, or what underhanded tactics Amazon used.

    I know other big companies like Starbucks got in trouble for “hiring” a lot of additional staff a few months before the vote and faking their timesheets to inflate their hours so that they technically had sufficient hours/experience to vote in the union elections, and then instantly firing them after the vote.

  4. There might be a reason for this I can’t think of, but why would anybody vote against this?

  5. People love to vote against their own interests don’t they

  6. Seems to me Amazon workers may be idiots.

    Anyway no more noise about working conditions at Amazon, please

  7. My mate worked at an Amazon warehouse. He said the people who do well in there are the knucklehead bully types. Anyone with sense got out of there fast.

  9. Why would anyone vote against this seems to be a common question?

    The assumption that people en masse generally do vaguely understand their own interests is where you have to start.

    The tightness of the vote suggests that Amazon workers understand that the benefits of trade union membership in private companies outside of the foundational economy (transport, energy etc) are marginal. If you strike against a private company distributing consumer goods, the economy doesn’t grind to a halt overnight and Amazon can certainly outlast strikers, so unionisation would not radically increase the workers’ bargaining power, if at all. Added to that that unionisation carries risks, usually in reduction of workforce size and the risks to benefits become quite closely matched, hence the result.

  10. The amount of young people in the UK, particularly those who have been to uni and not got into high salaries yet, who are against unions or even unaware of them is staggering.

    They only know of them from train strikes and I once got asked if it was a pyramid scheme by a group of concerned colleagues.

    The problem is people don’t realise or want to accept they’re working class, there is no class consciousness anymore. Some middle class clown lie Johnson makes a joke and jabs you with his elbow and then suddenly you feel like you’re on the way up to the ‘club’. And you don’t unionise…

  11. I think it’s fairly obvious. Not only are Amazon very good a union busting but the majority of their warehouse staff are immigrants.

    If you’re an incredibly disposable immigrant worker who’s come to Europe to scrape together some cash and you’ve ended up in the Amazon warehouse, you’re not risking losing that.

    This is one of the biggest arguments against mass immigration of low skilled labour. In that it obviously lowers the chances of worker’s seeking expansions of their rights and better pay, in favour of playing incredibly safe as to not offend the corporate overlords.

  12. God that’s depressing. I cannot fathom why someone so exploited would vote for more exploitation. Mind boggling.

  14. Looks like Amazon’s intimidation tactics worked, what an appalling company

  15. People forget that Amazon workers in Britain are primarily immigrants many of whom don’t even speak English or have any intention to stay long term in Britain. The turnover is extremely high and they’re not interested in long-term benefits but rather short term earn and leave.

  16. A lot of people can’t afford union membership fees? They are really high in Australia for example.

  17. I’m sorry but all big businesses should be forced to have democratic models like unionisation. It stops the staff being targeted for wanting to make a union and any negative consequences of that, which I can imagine are the only reasons that people voted against this.

    They’re basically controlling vast swathes of our economy it’s not right for them to be run like this when they employ so many people.

  18. What is actually wrong with people! Perhaps I’m just really delicate and don’t think having to piss in a bottle is just one of those things.

    What probably happened is they preyed on agency staff and told them that if they unionised it would become a closed shop and they would all lose their job (despite them probably all going to lose their job after the prime day rush is over only to be tempted for black Friday)

  19. If you ever want a clearer example of people voting against their own best interest here it is

  20. I guess a Brexit voting workforce really don’t know what’s in their own best interests..

  21. Seems very strange to me. You don’t have to join a union. All they’ve done is vote to have the half that wouldn’t join a union anyway, take away the opportunity from the other half.

  22. you know as soon as amazon can replace these guys with robots for cheaper they are all going to loose their jobs :/

  23. Well that’s the most suspiciously close vote I’ve ever seen 

  24. Ah cool, GMB, the one who rescued 0/12k Wilko jobs.

    No tupes, no arrangements with other chain who bought the locales, nothing.

    Same GMB that declared Wilko had 18 months left of liquidity, but in 9 the chain had gone.

    Although no idea why would workers vote against themselves, perhaps it is for the best, given the parts involved.

  25. The turkey wishing for Christmas.

    I wonder what nonsense propaganda they were told that led them to believe they’re better off without a union?

    So daft.

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