The Amazon Labor Union, which made historical past in April by unionizing the first Amazon warehouse in the US, misplaced its newest marketing campaign at present, at a facility in Schodack, New York. Employees voted 406 to 206 in opposition to becoming a member of the union, the second loss out of ALU’s three unionization campaigns at Amazon warehouses.
The result’s a setback for employees in search of extra say at Amazon, which is a staunch opponent of unionization and has spent months difficult the only real profitable marketing campaign, in Staten Island.
“We’re happy with the courageous employees in upstate New York who stood up within the face of a vicious anti-union marketing campaign to problem a trillion-dollar company,” ALU president Chris Smalls wrote in an announcement, saying the union would proceed to prepare in Schodack. He claimed the vote was unfair as a result of Amazon subjected employees to every day intimidation aimed toward stopping a union win.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel welcomed the consequence at present in her personal assertion. “We’re glad that our staff in Albany was capable of have their voices heard, and that they selected to maintain the direct relationship with Amazon as we predict that that is the perfect association for each our staff and prospects,” she wrote.
Right now’s vote brings the tally of Amazon warehouses which have tried to unionize to 4. After successful its first election on the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island in April, the ALU misplaced a second election at a smaller warehouse throughout the road. The Retail, Wholesale and Division Retailer Union held a rerun election to symbolize employees in Bessemer, Alabama this 12 months, however the consequence stays too near name.
The union defeat on the ALB1 warehouse in Schodack, close to Albany, follows per week of labor unrest at Amazon, which coincided with final week’s Prime Early Entry Sale. Employees at two services in Georgia and two in Illinois walked out over calls for starting from pay raises to protections in opposition to harm and sexual harassment. On the identical day, employees in Moreno Valley, a part of California’s Inland Empire logistics hub, filed for the first ALU election in California. Three days later, employees at Amazon’s close by air delivery hub in San Bernardino went on strike, demanding wage hikes and enhancements to working circumstances.
The marketing campaign defeated at present has its roots within the private historical past of lead organizer Heather Goodall. She took a job choosing and packing gadgets for cargo at ALB1 in February in an try to seek out out if the information she’d examine Amazon’s robust working setting was true. Her curiosity in office circumstances developed after one among her sons took his personal life, changing into one among a sequence of suicides and murder-suicides by staff of chip producer GlobalFoundries, which she believes had been associated to a poor working setting. (GlobalFoundries has said worker well being and security is a precedence and that it provided 24/7 counseling.)
Goodall quickly concluded “that the rumors had been true,” about Amazon’s harsh working circumstances. She witnessed accidents, excessive turnover, and indicators telling employees “No Covid pay. No excuses” in defiance of state legislation, she says. Ambulances are a standard sight outdoors the warehouse, Goodall says, and one as soon as got here for her after her coronary heart situation flared up whereas on shift. “Once you see it on a every day or weekly foundation, it turns into normalized, and other people cease questioning it,” she says.
