Amazon is asking a U.S. labor board to delay a union vote at its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse. In a legal filing, Amazon said it wants the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reconsider its decision to allow a mail-in election, arguing that in-person voting would help employees "verify and cast their vote in close proximity to their workplace."

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• 6,000 Amazon workers in Alabama are scheduled to vote by mail starting on Feb. 8 to decide whether they will begin unionizing. If the vote passes, it would open the doors for the first Amazon union in history. 
• The NLRB is using mail-in-voting due to COVID-19. But Amazon has pushed for the election to be held in person, saying it's better for "associate convenience, vote fidelity, and timeliness of vote count."
• The company has filed a motion to delay the vote and give the board more time to reconsider its decision. Amazon argues that only a small percentage of its Bessemer workforce, about 2.9%, had tested positive for the virus during a two-week period.
• Jefferson County, where Bessemer is located, had an infection rate of more than 17% in early January, with cases rising in the area, according to the NLRB.
• The voting is scheduled to begin on Feb. 8 and continue through March 29.

The European Parliament has invited Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and other big tech executives to a Feb. 1 hearing to discuss their business models and future plans. The goal is to prepare Parliament members for upcoming talks on digital regulation, according to the invitation.

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• Besides Bezos, the Parliament has invited Apple's Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai to Brussels on Feb. 1. All four tech giants declined to comment.
• Lawmakers noted that they were willing to change the date to another time in February or March. But sources told Reuters that it's unlikely the executives would accept the invite.
• The Parliament, one of the EU's three legislative branches, is expected to provide feedback in the coming months to the European Commission about how to regulate the digital sector. This could include topics like anti-competitive behaviors, harmful online content, and fake news.
• In July, Bezos joined the CEOs of Apple, Facebook, and Google to testify by videoconference before the U.S. House antitrust subcommittee. The hearing delved into each companies' market power and competitive practices as lawmakers seek to determine if current U.S. antitrust laws go far enough.

Amazon spent a record amount on its lobbying efforts in 2020, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The company spent at least $18.5M in 2020, up from $16.1M in 2019 and $14.4M in 2018.

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• In 2020, Amazon was second behind only Facebook in federal lobbying expenditures among all U.S. companies.
• Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, and Uber, seven of the largest market players, spent a combined $64.9M on lobbying efforts last year.
• A company spokesperson told the WSJ that Amazon's D.C.-based lobbying team advocates on issues related to employees, companies, and policymakers, though they didn't elaborate on specifics.
• The news comes after U.S. House Democrats issued a report in October arguing that the largest tech giants need more regulation to combat monopolistic practices. They specifically mentioned Amazon's dominance and control over the e-commerce marketplace as a reason.
• Amazon and other tech companies are the subjects of a preliminary antitrust inquiry led by the Federal Trade Commission, which is examining how they may harm competition and consumers.

Amazon announced it will increase fees on the Spanish companies using its platform after a new "Google" tax went into effect in the country on Jan. 21. The move comes as several major governments look to tax large internet companies and curb their growing influence.

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• Amazon has repeatedly supported a "global approach" as opposed to individual governments imposing taxes.
• The U.K., France, and Italy have already implemented digital taxes. Other tech giants such as Apple and Google have raised fees to pass along the costs.

In the U.S:

• CNBC reports Amazon could face pressure from the Biden administration over issues such as antitrust, labor practices, and union rights for its warehouse workers.

A version of this story first appeared in Inside Ecommerce. You can read the full issue here.

Amazon is once again asking a court to block Reliance Industries from acquiring Future Group's retail assets for $3.4B. In a newly filed petition, Amazon said it wants the Indian court to enforce an injunction to suspend the deal, which was issued by a Singapore arbitrator back in October.

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• Last August, Future Group agreed to sell Future Retail — India's second-largest retailer — to Amazon rival Reliance. Amazon, however, claims the deal violates previous agreements. In 2019, Amazon invested $200M in Future Group and included a clause that would prevent the sale of its retail assets to certain companies including Reliance.
• In its latest petition, Amazon is seeking imprisonment for Future Group’s founder Kishore Biyani and seizure of assets for allegedly violating the arbitrator's order to temporarily halt the sale. This comes after India's market regulators and stock exchanges effectively signed off on the sale.
• In the court filing, Amazon argues that Future "deliberately" disregarded the arbitrator’s order, which it's seeking to enforce. A New Delhi court is scheduled to hear the case later this week.
• As Bloomberg points out, Amazon is heavily pursuing the Indian market to boost its overall growth. Blocking the Reliance deal "is key" as Reliance is "already the country’s biggest brick-and-mortar retailer."

More than 2,000 people received COVID-19 vaccinations yesterday at an Amazon pop-up vaccine clinic in Seattle. The company partnered with the Virginia Mason Hospital to host the clinic at Amazon's downtown meeting center.

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• The plan was to administer 2,000 vaccines to eligible members of the public, though the clinic was able to squeeze in "a few more at the end of the day," according to local news station KING-TV.
• The state of Washington is currently vaccinating high-risk healthcare workers, long-term care residents, people over 65, and those over 50 who live in multigenerational households. From Jan. 6-12, Washington vaccinated an average of 14,723 people per day, with a goal of reaching 45,000 per day.
• Last week, Amazon sent a letter to President Biden offering help with vaccine distribution. The company said that it is ready to turn its sites into vaccination facilities and mentioned its "operations, information technology, and communications capabilities" to help in vaccination efforts.
• Google also announced that it is pledging $150M in support of vaccine education across the globe and is turning some of its sites into vaccination facilities.

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• See how consumer electronics brand Nomad went headless with their existing Shopify store to increase their ecommerce conversion rate by 25%.*
• Amazon Web Services spent $55.9M to acquire 46.4 acres in northern Virginia, which the Washington Business Journal speculates could be for more data centers.
• Online sales in the U.K. grew by 46.1% in 2020, the largest annual growth since 2008.
• Food-and-grocery delivery app Wolt has raised $530M as it seeks to compete with Amazon in the sector.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs will be the first NHL team to be featured in Amazon Prime Video’s "All or Nothing" sports documentary series, due out later this year.
• An Amazon Fresh store will open in Schaumburg, Illinois this Thursday, the eighth such location in the U.S.
• The first three episodes of Amazon's animated adaptation of the Robert Kirkman "Invincible" comic will debut on March 26.
• Lucille Ball's daughter Lucie Arnaz defended the controversial casting of Nicole Kidman as her mother in the upcoming Amazon Studios film "Being the Ricardos."
• What are the costs of inefficiencies in your product release cycle? Read how top companies save over $1M each year.*

*This is sponsored content.