Amazon, the Teamsters, and the Cemex Clock

An NLRB judge just ordered Amazon to recognize and bargain with the Teamsters at a San Francisco delivery center, without an election.

Here is how it happened. In October 2024, a majority of “Tier 1” associates at Amazon’s DCK6 warehouse signed authorization cards. The union tried to hand the site manager a demand letter. He refused it. They left it at his feet.

Under the Biden Board’s Cemex decision, that was enough to start the clock. Once a union demands recognition on a card majority, the employer must either bargain or file an RM-petition for a secret-ballot election within about two weeks. Amazon did neither, so ALJ Michael Silverstein found a violation.

The judge did not sound thrilled he had to follow this new law, writing that he was “compelled to follow the Board’s guidance.”

Amazon is appealing to a Board that will soon have a three-member Republican majority, one widely expected to scrap Cemex and return to Linden Lumber, where employers could insist on a secret-ballot election.

Employers everywhere are rooting for you Amazon!