Amazon vote counts not in favor of forming union

Amazon workers vote against unionizing as ballots continue to be counted. Yahoo Finance’s Max Zahn shares the details.

Video transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: We begin this hour, though, with that vote to unionize Amazon workers. With roughly 2/3 of the ballots counted so far, the tally pointing to an overwhelming victory for Amazon. Let's bring in Yahoo Finance's Max Zahn, who's been covering all of this for us. Max, it certainly doesn't look good for those who were in favor of unionizing these workers over in Alabama. But they've made it pretty clear, they believe they have a bit of a challenge they can pick here, given how these ballots were cast.

MAX ZAHN: Yes, that's absolutely right, Akiko. So the union has come out even while this vote is underway. Having seen the result, which as you mentioned, is heavily favorable against this union. And the union, the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union, which conducted this months long organizing drive, has already called on the National Labor Relations Board to question and look into and potentially sanction the conduct of anti-union harassment undertaken by Amazon over the course of this election, at least, again, according to the union.

We have a statement from the president of that union, Stuart Appelbaum. He says, quote, "Our system is broken. Amazon took full advantage of that. And we'll be calling on the Labor Board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behavior during the campaign. But make no mistake about it. This still represents an important moment for working people. And their voices will be heard."

Now we still have, as you mentioned, roughly one-third of the votes left. But something to note is that these votes are being counted at random order. So we do not expect, say, like with the presidential election last November, a huge shift in this vote with the final batch. But you never know. And this is still pending.

AKIKO FUJITA: And Max, you know, when we were talking about the initial vote starting, there were a lot of people watching this, saying there are major implications from this vote for potentially other warehouses, other workers who are looking to organize in their own way. Does that quiet all of that? Or you think this is a one-off if we're talking about specifically what's happening in Alabama?

MAX ZAHN: I think that's a big concern, Akiko. I think when you look at the landslide victory that we could potentially see, that's something the labor movement is concerned about. And speaking with academics, with advocates in the run-up to this vote, something that comes up again and again is, if this vote is close, that's a good sign, but if there is a landslide on either side, in this case, on Amazon's side, this will really affect organizing going forward. And RWDSU has said thousands of workers have contacted them from other facilities about organizing there.

But if I'm a union organizer, whether at RWDSU or another union looking to go to those facilities and speak to workers and persuade them to take the considerable risk of supporting a union that you know your employer, and in this case, a very powerful and well-financed employer in Amazon, will oppose, it's going to be tougher to make that case when those workers are aware of what could end up being a landslide opposition to unionization in this first vote in Bessemer.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, it's certainly looking that way, as Zack-- as Max pointed out. Still one-third of the vote left to be counted here. Max Zahn, thanks so much for that re--