Amazon ordered to collectively bargain with California warehouse workers

Amazon just lost a fight it’s been waging for months. A US labor board judge ruled that the company must collectively bargain with warehouse workers at its San Francisco distribution facility, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing battle between the world’s largest e-commerce company and organized labor.

The ruling stems from a complaint filed on April 21, 2025, by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Amazon unlawfully refused to engage in collective bargaining with Teamsters-represented workers at its DCK6 distribution site. A majority of warehouse workers at that facility signed union authorization cards in the fall of 2024, and Amazon’s response was, essentially, to ignore them.

The legal mechanism that changes everything

This isn’t your standard union election dispute. The NLRB complaint seeks a bargaining order grounded in a 2023 precedent that fundamentally changed the playbook for organizing. Under that precedent, when a union demonstrates majority support through signed authorization cards, the employer faces a binary choice: recognize the union or proceed to an election. If the employer refuses to do either, as Amazon allegedly did here, the NLRB can simply order them to the bargaining table.

Amazon described the NLRB complaint as “meritless” and a “baseless legal theory” that undermines employee rights. Further proceedings are set to occur before an administrative law judge.

A broader pattern across California

Unionization efforts at Amazon warehouses in the state accelerated significantly after the enactment of AB 701 in 2021, California’s Warehouse Quotas law that took effect in 2022. That legislation required warehouse employers to disclose productivity quotas to workers and prohibited quotas that prevented compliance with health and safety laws.

Strikes at Southern California facilities occurred in December 2024, reflecting ongoing labor unrest that extends well beyond the Bay Area. The NLRB complaint could influence union drives at additional California sites, including DAX5 in City of Industry and DAX8 in Palmdale, where organizing efforts are being watched closely.

Amazon has faced repeated NLRB complaints alleging refusal to bargain, suggesting a corporate strategy of systematic resistance rather than case-by-case objections.