Amazon challenges US labor board's structure in lawsuit over union election

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) -Amazon.com sued a U.S. labor board on Thursday, accusing it of illegally interfering in a union election at a New York City warehouse and claiming the agency's structure violates the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit filed in San Antonio, Texas, federal court seeks to block the National Labor Relations Board from deciding a case that could force Amazon to bargain with the union, which won a 2022 election at the warehouse in Staten Island.

The labor board last week upheld the results of the election, rejecting Amazon's claims that it was tainted by demonstrations held by workers and union organizers and that board officials who oversaw the voting were biased toward the union.

Amazon's lawsuit says the board's in-house enforcement proceedings violate the constitutional separation of powers and the company's right to a jury trial.

Nearly 20 other companies including rocket maker SpaceX, Starbucks and Trader Joe's have made similar claims against the board in pending lawsuits and administrative cases.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An NLRB spokeswoman declined to comment.

The election at the Amazon warehouse known as JFK8 was the first and so far only successful union campaign in the company's history.

Workers at two other Amazon warehouses in New York and one in Alabama have since voted against joining the Amazon Labor Union, which recently affiliated itself with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The NLRB issued scores of complaints accusing Amazon of illegal union-busting tactics during those campaigns, including firing union supporters, making threats, holding mandatory anti-union meetings, and refusing to bargain with the Staten Island union. Amazon has denied wrongdoing.

That included a rare lawsuit the board filed in New York federal court on the eve of the Staten Island election accusing Amazon of illegally firing a pro-union worker. In Thursday's lawsuit, Amazon claims that the labor board "interfered with the free and fair choice of the employee voters" by suing the company.

Amazon's lawsuit also alleges that the NLRB's five members, who are appointed by the president, are improperly shielded from being removed at will, and that the board's unique structure where it serves as a prosecutor, judge, and jury in certain cases violates the U.S. Constitution.

NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, has said the claims about the board's structure lack merit and that companies challenging the agency are attempting to distract from their violations of workers' labor rights.

In July, two federal judges in Texas issued separate rulings temporarily blocking NLRB cases against SpaceX and pipeline operator Energy Transfer. The judges said the companies were likely to prevail on claims that board members and administrative judges are improperly insulated from removal.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Richard Chang, Alexia Garamfalvi and Diane Craft)