The first union inside an Amazon facility in the US has been formed by warehouse workers on Staten Island.
The National Labor Relations Board conducted an election in which employees at the company's fulfillment center voted to join the Amazon Labor Union. In the vote count held Thursday and Friday, the union won 2,654 to 2,131.
If the labor board certifies the results, the world's largest online retailer will have to bargain with a union representing several thousand of its employees, something it has never had to do before.
The labor board conducted a separate vote count for a different Amazon facility in Alabama. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union could still win after the board determines the eligibility of the voters who challenged more than 400 other ballots.
“[Amazon knows] that people don’t want to be here long, that these jobs break you down physically and mentally.”
- Chris Smalls, president of the Amazon Labor Union
Amazon has put up stiff resistance against union organizing efforts, inundating workers with anti-union messaging and holding frequent meetings with workers to discourage them from signing union cards or voting for union representation. Amazon spent $4.3 million on labor consultants last year who help employers defeat organizing drives, according to disclosures the company submitted to the Labor Department on Thursday.
The strategies had worked before this week.
The labor victory in Staten Island is remarkable because of the union's unlikely roots. A group of workers in New York formed the ALU. Chris Smalls, a former Amazon worker who was fired early in the Pandemic after speaking out about safety concerns, is the leader of the group.
Professional organizers, who are paid through workers' dues, are a large staff of most unions. ALU has not had the resources of an established union. The pro-union workers held cookouts, spoke with workers about the campaign and urged them to sign union cards outside of the Staten Island facility.
The group raised money through GoFundMe after they battled the company on TikTok.
The young union will have to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement with one of the most powerful companies in the world. It can take a long time for a union to get a first contract. For fear that it would only encourage more unionization elsewhere, Amazon would have a strong incentive not to give the union a decent deal.
One of the greatest challenges to organizing Amazon is dealing with high turnover, according to Smalls. He said that many workers don't stay around long enough to be turned into union supporters.
He said at the time that Amazon's game was to hire and fire.
New York has a high cost of living and ALU wants a wage of at least $30 per hour. Smalls has said that Amazon workers need to meet production quota or they can lose their jobs.
ALU says on its website that it wants to be treated as human beings and not just replaceable appendages to the robots.
The labor board was petitioned for an election by the union last year, but withdrew it before a vote. After gathering more signatures, the union returned to the board to file its petition.
Workers at a smaller Amazon facility on Staten Island are expected to vote on joining the ALU later this month.
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