Technologies

Redo the Amazon union election in Alabama, NLRB official recommends

The findings aren’t final, and Amazon plans to appeal.

The results of a historic union election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama should be set aside, a hearing officer from the National Labor Board Relations said in recommendations. The findings address complaints from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union alleging the company misled and threatened workers in violation of federal labor law. The union sought to represent thousands of workers at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, but lost by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 in April.

Both parties have the opportunity to file exceptions to the findings before the regional director makes a decision. The decision can then be appealed to the national labor board, where a panel of commissioners could rule on the case.

The hearing officer said the RWDSU’s objections should be sustained in part and recommended a second election be held. Specifically, Amazon’s move to have the US Postal Service install a generic mailbox outside the Alabama fulfillment center usurped the NLRB’s role in administering the election and interfered with the conditions necessary for a fair election, according to the hearing officer’s report, which the NLRB released Tuesday.

«Notwithstanding the union’s substantial margin of defeat, the employer’s unilateral decision to create, for all intents and purposes, an onsite collection box for NLRB ballots destroyed the laboratory conditions and justifies a second election,» said hearing officer Kerstin Meyers in her recommendations.

Amazon said it plans to appeal.

«Our employees had a chance to be heard during a noisy time when all types of voices were weighing into the national debate and at the end of the day, they voted overwhelmingly in favor of a direct connection with their managers and the company,» an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. «Their voice should be heard above all else and we plan to appeal to ensure that happens.»

«The question of whether or not to have a union is supposed to be the workers’ decision and not the employer’s,» said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU. «Amazon’s behavior throughout the election process was despicable.»

The recommendation comes as Amazon faces increasing scrutiny for its treatment of workers. The NLRB has also reportedly considered investigating the company for allegedly firing and disciplining workers who organize protests and walkouts, activities that are protected under federal labor law.

Amazon has also been sued by a group of corporate and logistics employees who allege the company engaged in discrimination and harassment based on race and gender. Warehouse workers have repeatedly sued to get wages for time they were required to wait in lines or spent walking to distant break rooms. So far, Amazon has prevailed in court against federal wage claims.

Working conditions for drivers at subcontracted «delivery service partners» have also raised concerns, including drivers peeing into bottles, struggling to park and facing a discipline system they say doesn’t take their side of the story into account.

The RWDSU complained that Amazon broke federal labor law in the lead-up to the Alabama election, which had the potential to create the e-commerce giant’s first unionized workforce in the US. Lawyers for the union said Amazon unlawfully threatened to lay people off and close the warehouse.

The union took particular issue with the mailbox Amazon had the USPS install on its premises outside the warehouse, saying the company turned it into an ad hoc voting booth with a tent surrounding it on three sides and banners urging workers to vote. Meyers, the NLRB official, said the booth was directly underneath a surveillance camera operated by Amazon. The mailbox was a metal cabinet with several slots rather than a standard blue box with a USPS logo on it. The union argued it gave the impression that Amazon was involved in collecting ballots, which could have affected the vote.

During the hearing over the union’s complaints overseen by Meyers, a worker testified that he’d seen Amazon workers access the mailbox. Amazon countered that it had access only to compartments that contained incoming mail addressed to the company. Additionally, Meyers determined that the worker’s testimony was not credible for numerous reasons, including that he couldn’t have seen anyone accessing the mailbox from where he said he was watching.

Technologies

In Honor of the Artemis II Mission, Explore the Moon in Fortnite Now

You might not be able to see the moon the way the Artemis II team is, but there’s an educational Fortnite simulation that will get you onto the celestial body’s surface.

You may not be able to explore the vast majesty of space in the same way that the four-person crew of the Artemis II is, but you can still get an up-close-and-personal view of the moon… in Fortnite, at least.

While you may not be able to slingshot around Earth’s own lunar body, space enthusiasts can see a little bit of what the Artemis II crew is seeing by spending time on the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map right now. The map is a creative collaboration between Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, and the European Space Agency. Lunar Horizons was released in 2024 after extensive testing and play from ESA trainee astronauts.

If you’re looking to learn more about our own orbiting body, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of the surface of the moon’s South Pole.

It blends game mechanics with learning, as players get to build up their own sterile lunar habitat bases, interact with ESA astronauts and roll around with robotic rovers as they discover informative plaques that contain information about the moon and international space agencies. There are still dangers to navigate, too — a solar storm may strike when you least expect it.

If you’re interested in exploring the moon, we’ve got all the information you need to join in on the Fortnite fun below. And if you’re looking for a more serious livestream during this momentous human achievement, tune into NASA’s feed here.

How to join the Moon Fortnite island while you follow the Artemis II mission

The Lunar Horizons Fortnite map is a great educational simulation that shares details about ESA’s work and catalogs information about humanity’s lunar research.

These three simple steps will get you up and running (or more accurately, taking slow leaps and bounds) on the surface of the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map:

Download Fortnite

If you haven’t played Fortnite before, but you want to check out this limited-time event, you’ll have to download the game. If you’re on PC, you can download Fortnite for free from the Epic Games Store. Console players can navigate the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Nintendo eShop in order to download Fortnite on their devices.

Navigate the in-game menus until you reach the Search button

Once you’re in the game, scroll down past the different official Fortnite game modes and the Discover tab until you find the Search button.

Input the Lunar Horizons island code

In the search bar, you can input a map’s name or its distinct search code in order to find it in the map directory. You can search for the Lunar Horizons map or input the code 3207-0960-6428 to explore this map in time.

Correction, 3:35 p.m. PT: This story initially was in error about the features available in the Lunar Horizons map. There is no Artemis II-specific mission in Fortnite. Rather, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of part of the moon’s surface.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 7, #561

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for April 7, No. 561.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun mix of categories, and the purple one cracked me up. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fore!

Green group hint: Hockey Night in Canada.

Blue group hint: Meteorologist favorites.

Purple group hint: And they’re off!

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Golf scoring terms.

Green group: Canadian NHL teams.

Blue group: Weather-themed teams.

Purple group: Things that race at MLB games.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is golf scoring terms. The four answers are birdie, bogey, eagle and par.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Canadian NHL teams. The four answers are Canadiens, Canucks, Oilers and Senators.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is weather-themed teams. The four answers are Hurricanes, Lightning, Storm and Thunder.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that race at MLB games. The four answers are pierogis, presidents, sausages and the freeze.

Technologies

Trump Administration Bans Chinese Routers. Phones and Cameras Could Follow

Major companies, including Huawei and Hikvision, could see the last of their import orders cut off from the US within 30 days of implementation.

The Federal Communications Commission continued its crackdown on Chinese tech on Friday, issuing a new proposal that would extend a ban on companies to products previously authorized.

In 2021, companies such as Huawei, Hikvision, Dahua, Hytera and ZTE were added to the FCC’s Covered List, a record of companies and products that the FCC believes pose a national security risk to the US, under the Secure Networks Act. The Chinese companies produce mobile phones, security cameras and other tech products.

But the 2021 ban applied only to new models that the FCC hadn’t authorized, and companies were free to keep selling models that had already received the FCC’s stamp of approval. If approved, the new proposal would ban these companies entirely, including those previously approved products.

«Older models of covered equipment pose an unacceptable risk today when imported or marketed in the United States, not only when such equipment is new to the market,» an FCC report from October said.

The proposal will be open for comment until May 6, after which the commission will vote on whether to adopt the rules. The ban won’t affect devices already owned by Americans.

Millions of consumers and businesses rely on Wi-Fi routers, telecommunications equipment and security cameras every day, making these devices critical links in both home and office networks. The Federal Communications Commission shocked the broadband industry on March 23 by effectively banning the sale of future foreign-made Wi-Fi routers (including some of the biggest router brands).

In recent years, Chinese telecommunications companies have faced restrictions on operating in the US. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal cited US officials who reportedly said that Chinese companies, including Huawei, used backdoor access intended for law enforcement to track sensitive information.

But this ban could be implemented quickly. The FCC proposes that «all parties [will have to] cease all importation and marketing activities within 30 days of the effective date of the prohibition.»

This proposition doesn’t reflect a final legal ruling on telecommunications imports, but it does reflect how the Trump administration has been increasingly pressuring Chinese tech companies in recent months.

The foreign-made router ban was only the latest in a string of decisions that have placed restrictions on Chinese tech companies operating in the US.

In December, the FCC banned the importation of Chinese-made drones into the US. Just months before that, the agency voted to block new approvals for any device containing parts manufactured by companies on the Covered List.

Representatives from the FCC and Huawei didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.