Getty/PATRICK T. FALLON
- The NLRB denied a request from Amazon to set up cameras watching the ballots for a historic union election.
- The ballots of workers in Bessemer, Alabama, are slated to be counted this week.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The National Labor Review Board denied a request by Amazon to set up cameras watching the ballot boxes as votes began to be counted in the company's Bessemer, AL union vote.
CNBC reported on Tuesday that Amazon petitioned to set up security cameras in the Birmingham, AL office of the NLRB, where the ballots are being kept as the vote begins being counted on Tuesday. The feed would have had to be visible to representatives from both Amazon and the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union, which the workers at the Bessemer facility will join if the vote passes.
In documents obtained by Insider, the NLRB denied Amazon's request for "enhanced mail ballot storage security protocols," which included the video camera that would run when ballots were not actively being counted. Alternatives proposed also included either a new lock system on the rooms where ballots were held, a physical log tracking anyone who enters the room, or, "tamper-proof tape or labels." The documents were dated March 29.
The NLRB cited the fact that the count will take place "within view of observers participating via virtual platform as well as an in-person observers" as the reason for its denial.
Spokespeople for the NLRB and RWDSU declined to comment. A spokesperson for Amazon was not immediately available for comment.
Amazon has petitioned the NLRB unsuccessfully before over the course of the union battle in Alabama. The NLRB denied the company's request to have an in-person vote, instead requiring that the company comply with mail-in voting, Insider reported in February.
The vote on whether Bessemer workers will join the RWDSU closed on March 29, and the RWDSU told Insider last week that it hopes to have a result by Sunday, April 4.