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The National Labor Relations Board said a fledgling employee union at four Amazon warehouses in Staten Island showed they had enough worker interest to hold an election to form a union on Monday. The agency’s determination sets the stage for the second unionization vote at an Amazon warehouse in less than a year.
For months, the organizers behind the union initiative had been collecting signatures for cards that had to be presented to the employment agency to ask for votes. Christian Smalls, a former Amazon employee who led the study, said he expected to submit more than 2,000 employee signatures late last week, but declined to reveal the final number.
According to Kayla Blado, the press secretary of the work board, the work board determined that the proposal represented 30 percent of the proposed bargaining unit. In the coming days, Amazon must notify workers at the facilities through written notices and signatures of the union petition, and the agency will hold a hearing in mid-May where Amazon can challenge which jobs should be included in the bargaining unit and the terms. your choice.
“I have no doubt that we are fine,” said Mr. Smalls.
Company spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement that Amazon “is skeptical that enough legitimate employee signatures have been secured to warrant selection.” “If there is an election, we want our employees to be heard and look forward to it. Our focus remains on listening directly to our employees and constantly improving on their behalf.”
NS Staten Island effort It is organized by current and former Amazon workers, who aim to form a new independent union, called the Amazon Workers’ Union, focused solely on the country’s second-largest employer.
A selection at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama earlier this year national retail workers union, it failed. However, the employment agency is considering canceling the results of this election due to Amazon’s anti-union measures. Amazon said it would appeal if the vote was invalid.
Monday’s rollout is the culmination of a six-month organization focusing on a massive Staten Island warehouse known as JFK8, which serves as Amazon’s main pipeline to New York City and employs more than 5,000 people. Over time, the organizers expanded their pressure to include three smaller Amazon sites in the same industrial park.
Workers at JFK8 accused Amazon of illegally interfering with their rights to organize. The agency said it found some value in pursuing three more of the cases of staff attorneys on the work board and is still investigating six additional cases.
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