Amazon and union employees attend rally exterior the corporate constructing in Staten Island, N.Y. in April.
Photo:
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg News
The press predicted a surge of Big Labor victories after an Amazon warehouse unionized final month, however the labor “tidal wave” has but to say a single island. A separate vote this week reveals that unions nonetheless face lengthy odds in organizing at Amazon and different non-public employers.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) stated Monday that staff at Amazon’s LDJ5 warehouse had rejected a union. The package-sorting heart is on Staten Island—a couple of four-minute drive from Amazon’s JFK8 facility, which made a nationwide splash when its employees permitted a union final month. Employees at LDJ5 rejected the union by a vote of 62% to 38%.
The push to arrange the sorting heart was dealt with by the Amazon Labor Union, which triumphed on the first location. The group pitched its small measurement and focus as a distinction with Big Labor, eager to keep away from the repute for ineffectuality that has sped non-public unions’ decline. But employees in final week’s election expressed acquainted doubts. The Journal experiences that many turned down the union as a result of they have been “satisfied with their pay and benefits.”
It’s the most recent setback for Amazon organizers, after staff at an Alabama warehouse rejected a nationwide union final yr within the firm’s first main union vote. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union appealed that consequence, claiming a Postal Service mailbox on the warehouse forged a pall over voters. But a revote was held in March and the union seems to have misplaced once more. Organizers in Staten Island have but accountable this week’s consequence on foul play, however such challenges are a union custom.
They could really feel they’ve an ally within the present NLRB, as Amazon believes its loss within the first Staten Island vote was aided by the labor board. The retail large is interesting the consequence, saying the union threatened employees, and the NLRB delayed an worker lawsuit till shortly earlier than the vote. You can wager on every union battle to final barely fewer rounds than a boxing match.
The Amazon Labor Union and different organizers deserve their probability to make their case. But this week’s result’s a reminder that staff have a alternative within the matter, and it usually isn’t the one which unions favor.
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