NEW YORK (AP) – Amazon warehouse workers rejected a union bid by a majority on Monday, striking organizers who last month made the first successful organization in the United States in the history of the retail giant.
This time, warehouse workers cast 618 votes – or about 62% – against the union, giving enough support to Amazon to reject a second labor victory and raise questions about whether the first victory was just a coincidence.
According to the National Labor Relations Council, which is monitoring the process, 380 workers – or 38% – voted in favor of the local union. Turnout was 61%, with around 1,600 workers eligible to vote, according to a voter list provided by Amazon.
The few ballots that were contested by either the company or Amazon’s nascent labor union, which led the organization’s efforts, were not enough to influence the outcome. Both parties have until Monday to object to the election. The ALU is already planning to object, said Seth Goldstein, a union lawyer who provides the group with legal aid.
Amazon spokesman Kelly Nantel said in a statement that the company was pleased that warehouse workers “could hear their voices.”
“We look forward to continuing to work directly together as we strive to make every day better for our employees,” Nantel said.
Separate elections last month gave the ALU a surprise victory when workers at various Staten Island facilities voted in favor of the union. This was the first time for Amazon in the United States
Monday’s defeat will surely sting. A second labor victory was expected to nurture more organization in the nation’s second largest employer and consolidate the power and influence of the ALU.
But despite the momentum after the first victory, it was unclear whether ALU would be able to repeat its success. Organizers said they lost some support in the warehouse after applying for elections in February because they focused more energy on the nearby facility, which voted to unite last month. There were also fewer organizers working in the facility – about 10 compared to nearly 30 employed in the other warehouse.
Despite the loss, Chris Smalls, the fired Amazon employee who runs ALU, wrote on Twitter on Monday that he was proud of the organizers who took part, saying they had a harder challenge after the group’s previous victory.
“Nothing is changing that we are organizing!” Smalls tweeted. “Don’t be discouraged or sad, get upset and talk to your colleagues”
The same obstacles that plagued the effort for the first time, including Amazon’s aggressive tactics against unions, have resurfaced. On the eve of the election, Amazon continued to hold mandatory meetings to persuade its workers to reject the union’s efforts, published anti-union leaflets, and launched a website urging workers to “vote NO.”
Goldstein, an ALU lawyer, says Amazon has stepped up its campaign to “break up unions” since the last election, disciplined union organizers and barred them from displaying a pro-union sign in the holiday room. The union also disputes the retailer’s use of mandatory anti-union meetings for its workers. The NLRB has allowed companies to schedule such meetings, but the labor council’s chief prosecutor is currently trying to outlaw them.
The union is also looking into Amazon’s pockets. A petition is currently being circulated calling on New York Attorney General Leticia James to investigate Amazon’s eligibility for state tax credits. On the national stage, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is asking President Joe Biden to terminate Amazon’s contracts with the government for what the senator calls its “illegal anti-union activities.” Thursday.
John Logan, director of labor and employment research at San Francisco State University, said he was not entirely surprised by the loss of the union. He believed that ALU was stretched thin. A second union victory would strengthen the union’s position, he said, but the results are in many ways more important to Amazon than to the young working group.
“The second defeat could be fatal to the company’s efforts to stop the organization from spreading like wildfire, just as happened at Starbucks,” Logan said. But he noted that there is no doubt that “ALU’s organizational campaign will continue and that Amazon’s activism efforts will continue to spread across the country.”
Regardless of Monday’s outcome, it had to be a difficult road for the ALU. Amazon challenged the first election, arguing in documents to the NLRB that the vote was tainted by organizers and the regional office on board in Brooklyn, which is monitoring the election. The company says it wants re-election, but pro-union experts say it is an attempt to delay contract negotiations and potentially blunt some of the organizational impetus. A separate regional office of the NLRB in the Southwest will hold a hearing later this month on the company’s objections.
Meanwhile, the final result of the separate union elections in Bessemer, Alabama, is still in the air with 416 unfulfilled disputed ballots hanging by a thread. Hearings to review these bulletins are expected to begin in the coming weeks.
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