Amazon and Union Organizers in New York Agree on March Date for Election
National Labor Relations Board must still approve plan for vote to be held
Demonstrators called for union rights for Amazon workers at a protest in Times Square last year in New York City.PHOTO: AHMED GABER/REUTERS
By
Sebastian Herrera Follow
Updated Feb. 16, 2022 3:21 pm ET
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 1.02% workers at a facility in Staten Island, N.Y., have reached an agreement with the company to hold a union vote in March, according to union organizers and the company.
Organizers, which call themselves the Amazon Labor Union, reached an agreement with the company Wednesday to hold an in-person union election at the warehouse starting on March 25 and ending on March 30.
The National Labor Relations Board must approve the parameters for the election to proceed. The vote represents another labor challenge at a major logistics hub for Amazon, which has long opposed unionization efforts within its workforce. Some company workers in the area have been organizing and seeking workplace changes for more than a year, though organizers face high hurdles to win, according to labor experts.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Chris Smalls, a former Amazon worker who leads the union.
An Amazon spokeswoman said the company has remained skeptical that the union has shown adequate support to hold an election. But she said that “since the NLRB has decided the election will proceed, we want our employees to have their voices heard as soon as possible.”
Union organizers in January won enough support to hold an election at the facility, code-named JFK8, which Amazon says has about 7,500 workers. Mr. Smalls and union supporters have campaigned outside the site for months and have pushed to organize other warehouses in the area.
An Amazon distribution center in Staten Island, N.Y., part of a major logistics hub for the e-commerce giant, which opposes labor organizing in its workforce.PHOTO: CRAIG RUTTLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The worker group earlier this month filed for a union election at a second company warehouse in Staten Island. The NLRB hasn’t yet said whether the union has shown enough support to hold an election at that facility. To do so, organizers typically have to collect signatures from 30% of eligible employees.
The Amazon Labor Union faces an uphill climb to win in a union contest. No Amazon facility has ever voted to unionize, and Mr. Smalls has run his campaign without the support of a traditional union. Amazon’s high rate of turnover represents a key challenge for organizers, making it difficult for labor advocates to gain and maintain support.
High employee turnover is a challenge at many Amazon warehouses. Employees are expected to prepare hundreds of packages an hour, and the pace has caused some to burn out quickly, according to interviews with workers. The company also records higher injury rates than the national average, according to labor data, although Amazon has said the injury figures are higher because of its rigorous reporting practices.
The Amazon Labor Union says it seeks to change Amazon policies related to break times and performance goals, issues that have also come up in Alabama and other areas around the country. Amazon has said many of the desires union organizers seek are already in place at the company. Amazon in the past year has raised wages and introduced bonuses of up to $3,000 for new employees.
If approved by federal regulators, the vote in Staten Island is set to occur as a separate union election wraps up at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Ala. Workers there began to vote by mail earlier this month and have until March 25 for their ballots to reach an NLRB regional office in the state.
The election is being held a second time after a federal labor official found the company violated labor law during a vote held at the site a year ago, a charge Amazon has denied. During the first contest a year ago, about 71% of workers who participated in the election voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has run the campaign on behalf of workers in Bessemer.
After the vote in Bessemer a year ago, Amazon executives vowed to listen to workers more. Aside from raising pay and giving bonuses, the company has expanded child-care benefits, introduced added safety training and said it seeks to make jobs more flexible for workers.
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