Amazon says it will allow its employees to organize in the workplace more easily. The pronouncement is as part of a nationwide settlement with the National Labor Relations Board. This week’s agreement follows a November decision confirmed by the NLRB that the Amazon facility in Bessemer will get a do-over unionization vote. The new ballot comes after the online retail giant was accused of interfering with rank-and-file voting.
Amazon is under pressure to improve worker rights. This week’s deal with the NLRB allows workers to organize freely and without retaliation. The online behemoth says it will email current and former warehouse workers to notify them of their organizing rights. The settlement outlines that Amazon workers have more room to organize within its warehouses.
The new union election for Amazon workers in Bessemer will be held based on objections to the first vote last April. The move is a major blow to Amazon which had spent about a year aggressively campaigning for warehouse workers in Bessemer to reject the union. Workers did vote no by a wide margin. The rare call for a do-over was first announced by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The NLRB confirmed the decision.