Amazon Labor Union stumbles as workers vote down union at second NYC facility

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Workers at the LDJ5 facility in Staten Island, New York, voted against organizing with the Amazon Labor Union at a count of 618 nos to 380 yeses. The facility has around 1,600 workers in total.

It has been a long road to the election. The sorting center was one of four Staten Island facilities that the ALU petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election for. To make sure it had enough interest, the union refiled its petition to only include the JFK8 facility. The election for LDJ5 was approved in March after the ALU filed a new petition. Workers at the JFK8 facility voted in favor of unionization in a historic victory for the ALU.

The fight to unionize LDJ5 will likely continue. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union successfully petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to hold another election at an Amazon facility in Alabama. A high number of contested ballots means that nothing is final yet, even though the votes counted in the redo signaled a loss for the union. The RWDSU is accusing Amazon of interfering in the second vote.

The ALU still has to negotiate a contract with Amazon for the workers at JFK8 as long as the results of the election aren't changed. The process could take months and will require support from the facility's workforce.

The ALU will contest the election, according to a statement from the group's lawyer. He continued to say that Amazon violated laboratory conditions in this election by having mandatory anti-union meetings.