After workers announced their union campaign in Albany, New York, Amazon workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to join the Amazon Labor Union. last monthAccording to the NLRB, it is.
If the workers are successful, they’ll form the company’s second ever union, joining workers in Staten Island who voted to unionize in MarchAfter a pioneering union campaign led by ALU a union was formed.
According to the NLRB the filing covers approximately 400 employees at ALB1 warehouse. To qualify for a union vote, unionizing employees must collect signatures from at most 30% of the unit. To win the union, at least half of the vote must be in favor.
Amazon workers have also filed for unionization. Workers are seeking better work conditions and higher wages.
“The main concerns I hear from workers are about wages and safety,” Heather Goodall, a lead union organizer in the campaign, told The Washington Post. “Besides that, there’s no job security. There’s no way to rest on a 15-minute break. Workers want to be able to use the bathroom freely.”
ALU in July announced the union campaign. wrote that “Amazon has exploited us for far too long…. The only way we can pressure Amazon into treating us with respect is by uniting and forming a worker-led union.”
The company posted anti-union messages on TV screens in the warehouse to try and get workers to vote against the union. It has also held meetings that ran a slideshow with misleading claims that unions are a “business that sell a service.” Union lawyers have so far filed at least five unfair labor practice charges against the company and have accused it of illegal union busting.
The company said in a statement that it’s opposed to unionization for its employees and that its “focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”
The Albany warehouse will be able to accept the file if it is certified by NLRB be the fourthThe company will be subject to a union vote. Another warehouse in Staten Island that is interested in joining ALU voted againstAfter a fierce union campaign, the company led by a strong union-busting campaign, unionization took place in May.
In March, Bessemer, Alabama Amazon workers’ vote to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) ended up being too close to callThere are hundreds of contested votes that are being investigated and reexamined by the NLRB. This was the second election of the Bessemer workers. Last year, the NLRB conducted an investigation into the ballots. A rerun election was ordered for the warehouseAfter discovering that Amazon had illegally interfered in the union campaign.
The labor board has placed the first unionized warehouse in limbo. reviews Amazon’s objections to the union’s win, delaying the bargaining process. Amazon has been crackingdown on the union within the warehouse while this is going on. firing severalworker-organizers refusing recognition of the union
