An administrative judge in September will hear complaints surrounding the last Amazon union election in Bessemer, and could determine whether Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse could see a third union vote.

A Sept. 25 hearing on the complaints, which will deal with contested ballots from a 2022 union election, will also cover charges by the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU) that Amazon threatened to close the facility if workers voted for a union, and surveilled and questioned employees involved in union activity.

The National Labor Relations Board’s Atlanta regional director today advanced 21 objections, along with unfair labor practice charges, to the hearing, which will take place in Birmingham.

Today’s order advanced 14 of 21 objections made by the RWDSU, seven of Amazon’s eight objections, and the challenged ballots from the last election, to the hearing.

Among Amazon’s objections was contact between the union and workers in their homes, and allegations that the union depressed turnout through various means.

Amazon also accused the union of “creating the impression” of surveillance among workers.

In the consolidated complaint, the union also alleges that Amazon enforced a rule prohibiting access for employees to the property more than 30 minutes before or after a shift, which it selectively enforced, to frustrate union activity.

In addition, the complaint contends that Amazon removed and prohibited pro-union materials, and carried on “captive audience” meetings, where employees were required to hear anti-union messaging.

Attempts to contact Amazon for comment were not immediately successful.

Last month, the National Labor Relations Board issued five complaints against Amazon, one dealing with Bessemer, for a rule that union activists interpreted as a way to frustrate organizing activity. An Amazon spokesperson at that time said the complaints were “completely without merit.”

If an administrative law judge at the hearing should uphold any objections or find that an unfair labor practice tainted the election, it could pave the way for another vote on whether employees at the online retailer’s fulfillment center in Bessemer could vote on representation by the RWDSU.

According to the NLRB, the hearing will also determine if any contested ballots in the last election, held in 2022, should be counted toward the final result.

The judge’s decision after the hearing can be appealed to the NLRB for review, and ultimately, federal Appeals court.

Amazon won the first vote, in 2021, with 1,798 “no” votes on unionization vs. 738 “yes” votes in a mail-in election that was conducted over several weeks.

Though there were more votes against unionization in the second Bessemer union election on March 31, 2022, there were a greater number of “challenged ballots” than the margin voting against the union – 993 votes against, 875 for the union. The NLRB’s Regional Director will eventually decide whether or not to open and count 311 challenged ballots.

Both Amazon and the RWDSU have objected to the election results.

Earlier this week, Jennifer Bates, an Amazon worker who for many was the face of the union organizing effort at the Bessemer fulfillment center, said she had been terminated from her job.

An Amazon spokesperson said Bates “failed to show up to work for a period of time and didn’t respond or provide documentation to excuse her absences.”