Report: Amazon scores another victory in union vote
For the second time in the past five months, workers at an Amazon warehouse facility have voted against unionization.
According to CNBC, employees at an Amazon warehouse located in Albany, N.Y. voted almost two-to-one against joining the Amazon Labor Union. In May 2022, workers at an Amazon warehouse located in the New York City borough of Staten Island also voted overwhelmingly to reject forming a union.
CNBC reports that 206 employees at the Albany facility voted in favor of joining the union and 406 workers voted against. This means 612 of the 949 warehouse workers who were eligible to vote on whether they should become part of the Amazon Labor Union cast ballots, with four ballots voided. The results of the election still need to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The vote was another setback for the independent Amazon Labor Union. In April 2022, the same union won an historic victory when workers at a larger Amazon warehouse near the Staten Island facility voted in favor of the union.
Representatives of both the Amazon Labor Union and Amazon provided commentary to CNBC.
“It was a sham election where workers were subjected to intimidation and retaliation on a daily basis and even the workers who volunteered to be election observers were faced with threats of termination,” said Chris Smalls, president of Amazon Labor Union.
“We’re glad that our team in Albany was able to have their voices heard, and that they chose to keep the direct relationship with Amazon as we think that this is the best arrangement for both our employees and customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel.
Efforts Amazon has made to position itself as a pro-employee organization include launching initiatives such as no longer including marijuana in its comprehensive drug screening program for most workers, actively supporting efforts to legalize marijuana at the federal level, and tweaking its use of its controversial “Time off Task” metric, a measure of any time workers spend away from the tools at their stations. Critics and some employees have said the metric contributes to a stressful work environment, causing them to avoid taking bathroom breaks and keep up a fast pace which can lead to on-the-job injuries.
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