UPDATE: The NLRB has finished going through challenged ballots in the Bessemer Amazon union election

[Donkees]

UPDATE: The @NLRB has finished going through the challenged ballots in the Bessemer Amazon union election. Vote counting will begin by Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Out of a 5,800-worker potential unit, 3,215 ballots were cast—a pretty huge turnout.

Link to tweet

Amazon union election update: The period of ballot challenges is over, the count will come next. Per the union there were 3,215 ballots received. 5,805 went out. That’s a participation rate of ~55%. Much higher than organizers previously told me they expected.

Union says hundreds of ballots were challenged, mostly by the company, and those are set aside unopened for now. If the margin in the election is smaller than the number of those challenged ballots, then those bad boys come into play and this is gonna take longer to sort out.

Link to tweet

[Indykatie]

1. They Needed Stacey Abrams to Help Get Out the Vote

Since all the ballots were mailed to Employees I'd expect to see a higher return rate. I see organizers expected even a lower return rate. That's disappointing.

[Donkees]

2. ''Abrams has become an icon of sorts in the push to unionize the plant.''

It is Abrams’ endorsement the union organizers have seized upon. The Rosie-the-Riveter Abrams sign stands at three locations, at least, on the roads around the Amazon plant, including right at its main gates. And in that way, Abrams has become an icon of sorts in the push to unionize the plant.
https://www.courthousenews.com/stacey-abrams-becomes-icon-in-union-drive-at-alabama-amazon-plant/

Link to tweet

[PortTack]

3. A big turn out bodes well for unionization. Ppl vote for change, not so things remain the same

[MichMan]

4. 55% is a big turnout?

So 45% didn't bother to vote at all.

[Celerity]

5. Probably the majority of those refusals to vote were by people scared shitless of losing their jobs

as an act of reprisal due to Amazon's shenanigans.

Just a wild guess.

[Hortensis]

6. Don't see any evaluation of what this turnout likely means yet.

An "AP Explainer" isn't.

Waiting.

[demmiblue]

7. ...

Breaking from Alabama: We are this much closer to learning the results of the historic union election at Amazon’s Bessemer, AL warehouse. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) reports that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has received 3,125 ballots. This means that a majority of about 5,800 workers cast votes.

No, the vote count isn’t in yet. The NLRB expects the public portion of the count, viewable to reporters and certain observers via video call, to begin this afternoon. We do not know how long this will take, but it’s safe to assume that the count will span several hours. Each of the over 3,000 ballots will be counted by hand, one at a time.

As previously reported, some voters might have been ineligible to participate, for example, former employees. Per labor law, Amazon is the only party to provide the list of eligible names for an election. The company provided the voter roll to the NLRB, and the union was able to contact people on the list prior to the count.

On Tuesday, in a private count with the NLRB, observers (Amazon and the RWDSU included) were allowed to challenge names on each unopened ballot on the grounds, for example, of eligibility or whether voters’ names match up with the list provided by Amazon. Contested ballots are set aside, and an NLRB regional director can arbitrate each individually after the public count. The NLRB has not shared how many ballots have been contested, but that pool could swing the election, depending on the volume. Observers can further contest each ballot during this process.

https://gizmodo.com/the-majority-of-amazons-bessemer-workers-cast-ballots-1846641668

[Donkees]

8. ''We're through the first 200 ballots or so and this is how it's trending.''

Link to tweet

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. It's going to be a long count, and a lot of the ballots that Amazon is contesting are likely to be

yes ballots. If the vote fails, you'll see this go to court very quickly.

[Donkees]

10. ''They are currently counting Amazon votes at about 7-8 votes per minute''

They are currently counting Amazon votes at about 7-8 votes per minute which would imply roughly 8 hours of active counting for the whole batch. Counting started about 3:30 pm eastern. Not sure if they will go straight through but results seem likely tomorrow at this rate.

Link to tweet

[gldstwmn]

11. I am somewhat shocked

at the number of no votes.

[Donkees]

12. Through approximately 300 ballots and the vote is trending almost exactly 2-1 Amazon so far

Link to tweet

[Donkees]

13. Amazon up 500-230. Trending worse than 2-1 against the union so far.

Amazon up 500-230. Trending worse than 2-1 against the union so far. Through 22% of ballots. No logical reason to expect this trend to reverse given commingled ballots.

[Donkees]

14. ''Union getting drubbed so far: 699-300''

Union getting drubbed so far: 699-300. Nearly 1/3 through. A good time to remind people this was always a longshot: It’s Amazon, it’s a huge facility, it’s the South, etc. It’s difficult to convey just how hard it is for a union to win an election like this.

[Donkees]

15. @RWDSU prez Stuart Appelbaum says 'the system is broken'