News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Amazon Warehouse Workers to Decide Whether to Form Compan... by LatteLazy on Friday January 15, 2021 @03:11PM (#25795714)
Can anyone outline what unionisation means in this case?

If they vote yes, is everyone at this location required to join? Are amazon required to negotiate with the union? Can amazon simply close the plant?

Presumably if unionisation works for these workers (better pay etc) then other centres will follow suit...

Re:Amazon Warehouse Workers to Decide Whether to Form Compan... by Mountain_Skies on Friday January 15, 2021 @03:45PM (#25796175)
Alabama is a right-to-work state so I don't think a union can require all employees join in order to work. Back during the big UPS strike in the 90s, the Montgomery, Alabama warehouse had the highest picket crossing rate in the entire country. This location is probably a best case scenario for Amazon because even if the union succeeds in forming, it has a high probability of failure, especially in any labor action it attempts as finding replacement workers will be easy and there is little public support for unions in the community. They won't be able to get away with any intimidation or below board retaliatory actions on those who don't go along with the union action.

The situation is almost so ideal for Amazon that I wouldn't be surprised if someone high up in the company planned for this to be the location to try to unionize in order to poison the whole concept. They won't even need to play games with shutting down the warehouse as union failure at this location is highly probable.

Re:Amazon Warehouse Workers to Decide Whether to Form Compan... by kieselguhr_kid on Friday January 15, 2021 @03:33PM (#25796000)
Hi, I was a union organizer before I was a software engineer. I'll try answer your questions without much commentary:

Is everyone required to join? No. Following Janus, they might not even be required to pay dues. However, the union contract will apply to everyone in the bargaining unit (generally all non-management) regardless of membership.

Is Amazon required to negotiate? Yes, they're legally required to make good faith negotiations. Whether or not they actually do this is an open question, as companies regularly stall here.

Can Amazon simply close the plant? Not legally, no. They would probably end up owing the workers quite a bit of money if they did. Whether or not they take that course of action may be a business decision.

Re:Amazon Warehouse Workers to Decide Whether to Form Compan... by LatteLazy on Saturday January 16, 2021 @04:38PM (#25805748)
Thanks. So what happens if amazon's offer is exactly what they're offering now?

I think it will be very interesting to see what the unions wants:

* cash raises (and what sort of structure)

* non cash benefits (health etc, more breaks, shorter lines to clock in and out)

* guaranteed hrs

* job security

* political faff

Re:Amazon Warehouse Workers to Decide Whether to Form Compan... by fat_pikachu on Friday January 15, 2021 @05:58PM (#25797681)
Janus was public sector unions only.
Re:Amazon Warehouse Workers to Decide Whether to Form Compan... by kieselguhr_kid on Friday January 15, 2021 @07:12PM (#25798430)
Well, guess they'll have to pay their dues then (which makes me happy).