Amazon has been granted a hearing that could overturn a union election held last month at a company warehouse in New York, according to the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Employees in Amazon’s Staten Island fulfillment center voted 2,654 to 2,131 on April 1 to organize, leading to the online retailer’s first union in the U.S. and sparking a frenzy of consideration to do the same across other Amazon facilities.
Soon after that vote, Amazon officials objected, citing “inappropriate and undue influence” by the NLRB’s Brooklyn office and claiming labor organizers intimidated workers to vote to unionize.
“We’ve always said that we want our employees to have their voice heard, and in this case, that didn’t happen — fewer than a third of the employees at the site voted for the union, and overall turnout was unusually low,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement published by Business Insider.
She continued: “Based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, as set out in our objections, we believe that the actions of the NLRB and the ALU (Amazon Labor Union) improperly suppressed and influenced the vote, and we think the election should be conducted again so that a fair and broadly representative vote can be had.”
The case was then transferred to NLRB’s Phoenix-based region. In a filing on April 29, Cornele Overstreet, the director for that office, said Amazon’s claims “could be grounds for overturning the election,” Reuters reported. The article noted Overstreet did not clarify which of Amazon’s objections could amount to grounds for overturning the election but said testimony could begin on May 23.
The Amazon employees in Staten Island’s warehouse, known as JFK8, who voted to unionize were hopeful soon after the vote to start contract talks by early May. The vote to unionize came after a two-year protest by employees who claimed the company failed to provide safe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Dallas Express previously reported.
Eric Milner, the attorney for the ALU, said the union supporters were also seeking higher wages and better treatment from the tech giant.
Milner downplayed Amazon’s move to testify regarding the objections, telling Reuters that it is not difficult to get a hearing and that Amazon’s evidence has not yet been reviewed.
“While the ALU is disappointed in any delay by Amazon in its bargaining obligations, we remain confident that all of Amazon’s objections will ultimately be overruled,” Milner said in the Reuters article.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the ALU lost a vote to unionize at a second Staten Island location in which an estimated 1,600 employees were eligible to participate. According to the NLRB, 618 voted against a union, while only 380 voted in favor.
Derrick Palmer, a co-founder of the union, told The New York Times, “There’s no way we’re going to stop or let this bring us down. It’s going to do the complete opposite. We’re going to go 10 times harder.”
In an earlier statement, Amazon said, “As a company, we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees. Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”
The failed vote at the second Staten Island warehouse echoes the outcome of a close race in March. Results of a vote in Bessemer, Alabama, initially concluded warehouse workers had rejected unionization by a slim margin, voting 993 to 875 against forming a union.
However, the NLRB said afterward there were 416 outstanding challenged ballots that could change the outcome of the vote. Officials said hearings to review those votes will be held in the coming weeks.
