More than two years have passed since workers at Amazon’s Bessemer fulfillment center voted on union representation. A National Labor Relations administrative law judge this week began hearings on whether the results of that vote will stand.

But it won’t be until July at the earliest that a decision will be handed down.

If the judge finds an objection or an unfair labor practice tainted the 2022 vote, then Amazon workers there will get a third vote on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU).

Workers voted down the union in 2021 in a mail-in election over several weeks, but the result was set aside by the NLRB after it found Amazon interfered in the election process. That came after a contentious campaign during COVID restrictions, which drew celebrities, politicians and even the attention of the Biden Administration.

Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort

Ballots in the second election were tallied on March 31, 2022.

The initial results showed 875 votes for RWDSU representation, 993 votes against, and 416 challenged ballots.

Of those, 311 challenged ballots remain outstanding, and both the union and Amazon filed objections to the vote.

Witness testimony in the case is scheduled to take place this month, in May and July.

Alabama has seen increased union activity since the Amazon effort. The state’s longest strike took place in Brookwood, not far from Bessemer, when miners struck against Warrior Met Coal. The UAW is currently engaged in an effort to organize at Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai in Montgomery.

In 2023, union members accounted for 7.5 percent of wage and salary workers in Alabama, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.