NEW YORK – Workers at an Amazon warehouse in the state of New York voted decisively against establishing a union, US officials announced Tuesday, dealing a setback to the fledgling labour drive at the e-commerce behemoth.
The tally was 406 against the Amazon Labour Union’s (ALU) proposal and 206 in support of the organisation, said a spokesman for the National Labour Relations Board.
The election marks the second straight defeat for the ALU, which surged to prominence in April following its upset win at a large Staten Island warehouse that voted to become Amazon’s first US facility to unionise.
ALU president Christian Smalls dismissed the vote at the Amazon facility near the city of Albany in New York state as unfair.
“It was a sham election where workers were subjected to intimidation and retaliation on a daily basis and even the workers who volunteered to be election observers were faced with threats of termination,” Small said in a statement.
Smalls said he was “proud of the brave workers in upstate New York who stood up in the face of a vicious anti-union campaign to challenge a trillion-dollar corporation”.
“We will continue to empower all workers to give them the right to unionise. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!” he added on Twitter.
Amazon, which has continued to contest its defeat in the first Staten Island vote, said it was pleased with yesterday’s outcome.
“We’re glad that our team in Albany was able to have their voices heard, and that they chose to keep the direct relationship with Amazon as we think that this is the best arrangement for both our employees and customers,” said spokesman Kelly Nantel.
The elections at Amazon have come amid a wave of labour drives at consumer-facing companies, including Starbucks, Apple, REI, and Chipotle, all of which have voted to unionise one or more stores or restaurants.
But Amazon’s initial victory in Staten Island, a New York borough, was on a much bigger scale, providing a jolt to the US labour movement while propelling Smalls and other ALU leaders to prominence.
Smalls, a former Staten Island Amazon worker, and other current and ex-employees established the group 2021, denouncing Amazon’s rigid workforce practices during the pandemic and arguing a union was the way towards better pay and benefits.
But after prevailing in the 8,000 employee JFK8 warehouse, the ALU had also lost a second election in May at the smaller LDJ5 warehouse, which is also in Staten Island.
Besides trying to spread the ALU to new Amazon sites, the union’s leadership is also facing barriers in getting Amazon to come to the bargaining table to recognise the union and negotiate a contract.
Amazon has refused to accept the election outcome in the first Staten Island vote, citing alleged improprieties.
Last month, a National Labour Relations Board official rejected Amazon’s claims as groundless after a 24-day hearing.
But Amazon has said it plans to appeal that decision. – AFP, October 19, 2022
