Amazon said it plans to appeal the official certification of its workers’ attempts to unionize in New York by the federal government’s Industrial Relations Board.
Regional director Cornele Overstreet of the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) confirmed the victory of an Amazon warehouse union in New York City in her Jan. 11 decision.
The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) celebrated the Labor Director’s decision in a tweet. “We’re thrilled at the moment,” said ALU interim president Chris Smalls, explaining that “this is very historic for workers”.
Smalls, who was fired from Amazon, was the union’s co-founder.
The e-commerce retailer attempted to overturn ALU’s victory at its JFK8 facility in Staten Island, New York, back in April 2022.
The certification is the first step in forcing the online retail giant to negotiate a contract with its workers.
The news comes after Amazon announced last week that it would lay off more than 18,000 employees in 2023 due to economic uncertainty.
“We knew it was unlikely that the NLRB regional office would rule against itself and intend to appeal,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a press release.
“As we have said from the beginning, we do not believe this voting process was fair, legitimate, or representative of the majority of what our team wants,” she added, stating that the company will appeal.
Amazon Unionization Movement is gaining momentum
This is the first time employees at an Amazon facility in the United States have decided to unionize the company’s history after demanding higher wages and job security.
Work organizers have criticized practices such as productivity tracking at the warehouse facilities.
At least 55 percent of the 8,000 workers eligible to vote to organize as of last March had opted to join the union, with a turnout of 58 percent.
Amazon tried to slow down ALU’s efforts, and workers at two different New York facilities have since refused to organize.
The union lost two subsequent elections by a wide margin, one at a smaller facility across from the original warehouse and a second at a location outside of Albany, New York.
Meanwhile, the company objected to an unethical conflict of interest between the employment agency and the union.
The retailer argued that the NRLB broke its own rules as a Labor Authority official who took action on the matter appeared to imply that the government agency supported the ALU in its decision.
The NLRB regional director’s decision overruled Amazon’s objections, with her decision broadly in line with recommendations from an NLRB hearing officer in 2022.
The online retail giant will appeal the Labor Board’s decision
Amazon had the option to appeal the decision before a larger NRLB review panel or enter into negotiations with its Staten Island employees.
The online giant will appeal the verdict to members of the Labor Committee in Washington, where pro-labor Democrats control.
If it loses that appeal, the company could simply refuse to negotiate with the union, setting in motion another round of grievances and appeals that could last for months or even years.
Although there is no collective agreement, official certification gives workers rights, such as the ability to bring a witness to meetings, which could result in disciplinary action, and prohibits the company from unilaterally changing working conditions without consent, ALU attorney Seth Goldstein said Bloomberg.
Smalls urged Amazon to start negotiations with its union, citing the recent decision.
“If they’re a good company and they’re in good faith and they’re listening to their workers and their workers are asking them to come to the table, then they should come to the table,” Bloomberg reported. “But that still needs to be clarified. Whatever they do, we have to make a countermove.”
A separate effort by the retail, wholesale and department store union in Bessemer, Alabama, is trying to organize workers at an Amazon warehouse there.
The NRLB found that Amazon’s conduct in organizing in 2021 in Bessemer made a fair election impossible and that a second attempt at voting depends on contested ballots.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Bryan S. Jung is a New York native and resident with a background in politics and the legal industry. He graduated from Binghamton University.
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