Amazon Ordered to Collectively Bargain with California Warehouse Workers, Plans Appeal

Amazon has been ordered to collectively bargain with workers at its California warehouses, Bloomberg reported. A labor judge ruled that Amazon violated federal law when it refused to recognize the Teamsters union after it received support from a majority of workers at a San Francisco delivery center. However, Amazon vowed to appeal the order to an NLRB board that could soon be dominated by Trump appointees. The board could then overturn the ruling and use the new precedent to set back the recent wins made by unions formed by Amazon staffers. The judge's ruling is based on a precedent set during the more labor-friendly Biden administration. Called Cemex, it requires companies to bargain with labor groups that sign up a legitimate majority of staff. Failing that, firms must ask the NLRB to hold an election testing its support. Amazon did neither of those things, the judge ruled. "We disagree with this administrative law judge's decision, we're appealing it, and we're confident that a court will overrule it," an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. Amazon denied any wrongdoing and said it believed that the Cemex precedent is unlawful. With the NLRB board stripped down by Trump (illegally, according to Senator Elizabeth Warren), Amazon could use the case as a way to undo Cemex.