Workers at an Amazon warehouse close to Albany overwhelmingly rejected a unionization effort on Tuesday, delivering a blow to an upstart labor union searching for to prepare staff on the retail big.
The tally was 206 votes in favor of the union and 406 votes opposed. Officers mentioned 949 staff on the ALB1 warehouse have been eligible to vote on whether or not they need to turn out to be a part of the Amazon Labor Union. 4 ballots have been voided. The outcomes of the election nonetheless must be licensed by the Nationwide Labor Relations Board.
The outcomes mark the most recent setback for the Amazon Labor Union, a grassroots group of present and former Amazon staff, which had a historic win in April on the JFK8 warehouse on New York’s Staten Island. The group additionally misplaced a vote in Could at a close-by warehouse on Staten Island.
Chris Smalls, president of ALU, mentioned in a press release that the voting course of “wasn’t free and truthful,” suggesting the union could search to problem the election outcomes. Legal professionals for the ALU have already filed 27 unfair labor observe costs towards the corporate with the Nationwide Labor Relations Board.
“It was a sham election the place staff have been subjected to intimidation and retaliation each day and even the employees who volunteered to be election observers have been confronted with threats of termination,” Smalls mentioned.
Representatives from Amazon didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Staff at ALB1 hoped the union would assist staff get hold of increased wages. Amazon final month bumped up the beginning wage on the facility to $17 an hour, up from $15.70 an hour, alongside pay will increase for front-line staff throughout the nation.
ALB1 organizers have additionally raised considerations about working circumstances, saying the speedy tempo of labor has led to excessive harm charges, and prompted worker burnout.
ALU’s victory at JFK8 was a watershed second for the labor motion, establishing the primary unionized Amazon warehouse within the U.S.
However the union has but to cut price a contract at JFK8, because it stays locked in a authorized battle with Amazon, which has argued the outcomes needs to be thrown out. An NLRB official lately advisable the corporate’s objections needs to be rejected. Amazon mentioned it might enchantment.
Amazon faces an upswing of labor organizing throughout the nation. Staff at an Amazon warehouse in Southern California final week filed a union petition with the hopes of becoming a member of the ALU. Amazon staff at amenities in California, Illinois and Georgia lately held walkouts, in time for Amazon’s fall Prime Day low cost occasion, to induce the corporate to reply to worker considerations round working circumstances.
