Dot-Com Workers Prep First Union Vote

The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday seeking an election, after getting approval from about 70 percent of the two companies' 36 customer service representatives. Under NLRB rules, an election is required if 30 percent of the employees ask for one.

"Workers, whether new economy or old economy, have the same issues, " local union representative Erin Tyson Poh told the E-Commerce Times.

Voicing Concerns

Among the issues the employees want addressed are job stability and security, clear job descriptions, better pay and a voice in workplace decision-making, Poh said.

The vote is expected to take place following a December 6th hearing before the NLRB.

Steve Ramirez, vice president of marketing at Etown, said company officials still have not seen the petition and therefore are not able to comment on specifics. "We're operating a little bit blind here," he said.

"The issue of a union is obviously up to the employees," Ramirez told the E-Commerce Times. "We're going to continue with our standard practice [of being] open to employee input. We have had a really successful open-door policy."

Etown.com, an Internet-based home electronics reviewer, and ShopAudioVideo.com, a home electronics e-tailer, are affiliates of San Francisco, California-based Collaborative Media, Inc.

Amazon Pressure

The announcement should give heart to customer service workers at Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), who are hoping to use the busy holiday season to build support for their proposed union. Workers at the Internet giant are busy gathering signatures to call a union vote.

The drive is targeting customer-service workers at the company's Seattle, Washington headquarters, but organizers are also reaching out to distribution and warehouse workers in other parts of the country.

Amazon employees have voiced complaints similar to those at Etown, saying that mandatory overtime, schedule changes with no notice, and minimal time off during the holidays are adding pressure to a workplace that is already tense.

Additionally, Amazon customer service representatives make US$10 an hour to start, which workers say is not enough in the expensive Seattle region.

Honeymoon Over

"The past two years have been kind of a honeymoon for e-commerce," said Poh. Now, as e-commerce companies face pressures to show profits and keep their businesses going, the "patina of glamor" associated with new-economy jobs is fading, Poh said.

Since the Collaborative Media workers began their organizing drive in October, four employees have lost their jobs, said the union, which filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. Two lost their jobs after a sick-out in October, and another two were fired after collecting signatures for the union vote, said Poh.

Management's "open-door policy obviously only went so far," Poh added.

Poh told the E-Commerce Times that the Collaborative Media workers were trying to deal with management, but felt "as if they just weren't getting backing."

Poh also said the employees believe they are "working harder, faster, longer" without adequate job descriptions and corresponding pay scales.