The National Labor Relations Board has approved a union election in a second Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, opening a new front in the growing challenges to the company’s labor model.
The agency informed the company on Wednesday that the new Amazon Labor Union in Staten Island had gathered enough signatures to show enough interest in holding an election at a warehouse known as LDJ5, said Christian Smalls, a former Amazon employee who the organization there. †
Amazon is already facing a March 25-30 personal union vote at JFK8, a huge warehouse nearby, as well as an election at another corporate warehouse this month in Bessemer, Ala., outside of Birmingham. Mr. Smalls said the logistics of the last Staten Island vote on March 14 would be eroded during a hearing at the agency.
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the company is looking forward to hearing our employees’ voices. She added that the company focused on “working directly with our team to make Amazon a great place to work.”
Last year, workers at the Alabama warehouse voted against union membership, but the labor office rejected the vote after it found Amazon had improperly meddled in the election.
In a message sent to workers at the LDJ5 warehouse on Wednesday shortly after the agency’s decision, Amazon tried to convince workers not to side with the fledgling union. The union “will keep promising you things like better pay and benefits just to get your support”, but “you could end up with the same, more or less than what you have now” while paying union dues, it said. message.
Mr Smalls said the idea that workers would get less if they joined the union was a “blatant lie” and ineffective. “We’re sure Amazon will spread anti-union propaganda, but that’s to be expected,” he said.
