The results of a vote by workers at Amazon's massive warehouse on Staten Island show that they voted by a wide margin to form a union.
The National Labor Relations Board released an initial tally showing that 2,131 employees voted against the Amazon Labor Union, giving the union a 10 percentage point victory. More than 8,300 workers at the Amazon fulfillment center in New York City were able to vote.
The win on Staten Island could herald a new era for labor unions in the United States, which saw the portion of workers in unions drop last year to the lowest rate in decades, despite widespread labor shortages and pockets of successful labor activity.
The first win in the United States at Amazon, which many union leaders regard as an existential threat to labor standards across the economy because it touches so many industries and frequently dominates them, is the biggest union victory.
The Staten Island outcome came on the heels of a narrow loss at a large Amazon warehouse in Alabama in a campaign brought by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The results of the vote will not be known for several weeks as the ballots are litigated.
The surprising strength shown by unions in both locations most likely means that Amazon will face years of labor pressure from independent worker groups, large unions targeting the company and other progressive activists working with them. A recent string of union victories at Starbucks can provide encouragement to others.
Over the past two years, Amazon has hired a lot of people. It has been plagued by high turnover and the Pandemic gave employees a sense of power that made them worry about workplace safety. A New York Times investigation last year found that the JFK8 warehouse was indicative of the stresses in Amazon's employment model.
The labor landscape has changed because of the Pandemic, according to a professor of labor studies at San Francisco State University.
Amazon didn't comment on the outcome immediately. The company can challenge the vote on the grounds that the conduct of the union was improper.
The co- founder of the Amazon Labor Union said he expected other facilities to follow Staten Island.
This is not a finished story. You can check back for updates.
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