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A fledgling labor union at Amazon and Staten Island warehouses agreed to terms for an election for the end of March, setting the stage for two major elections at Amazon warehouses simultaneously.
The Staten Island warehouse election will be held in person March 25-30, according to Christian Smalls, a former Amazon employee in Staten Island who leads the organizing effort there. Room tweeted out Screenshot of a text message Amazon sent to workers at the facility on Wednesday around the same time. The message also urged workers to “vote NO”.
The timing of the vote coincides with an election to be held at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., outside of Birmingham.
Postal ballots for this election – rerun after the National Labor Relations Board canceled a previous ballot for what it said was improper interference from Amazon – already gone to the workers and must be paid back by March 25. The employment agency said it will start counting those votes on March 28, a process that could take several days.
In late January, the agency determined that the new union, called the Amazon Labor Union in Staten Island, had gathered enough signatures to show that there was enough interest in holding an election. Amazon and the union reached an agreement on the logistics of voting just before a hearing that will begin Wednesday morning.
The agency confirmed that a tentative agreement had been reached, but did not provide details.
“It’s up to the workers now,” said Mr Smalls. “We have the momentum. I’ve seen a lot of positive change since we applied and we hope we can continue that.”
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the company was skeptical that there were enough “legitimate signatures” to support the election petition. “We want our employees to have their voices heard as soon as possible,” he said, after the agency determined that the election could proceed.
“Our employees have always had a choice in whether or not to join a union, and our focus remains on working directly with our team to make Amazon a great place to work.”
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