Amazon Faces Another New York Unionization Vote

E-commerce giant Amazon is facing yet another union vote, this time at a facility directly across the street from the Staten Island warehouse that recently voted to unionize.

Business Insider reports that Amazon is facing another union vote this month following high-profile elections at its Alabama and New York facilities. Last month, the company’s Staten Island warehouse voted to unionize under the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), now the union is hoping to have the facility just across the street vote in favor of unionization as well.

People hold placards during a protest in support of Amazon workers in Union Square, New York on February 20, 2021. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy (Isaac Brekken/AP)

Approximately 1,500 workers at the LDJ5 Staten Island Amazon sorting center will be eligible to vote on unionization from April 25 to 29, with vote counting to begin on May 2. Workers at the JFK8 Amazon warehouse in Staten Island voted in recent weeks to join the Amazon Labor Union.

The vote decision was made following an election that saw 2,654 votes in favor of unionization and 2,131 opposed to it. Around 8,000 people work at the JFK8 facility. In Bessemer, Alabama, workers at an Amazon facility called BHM1 began voting in February on whether to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

The union vote failed 993 – 875, but more than 400 ballots remain contested which could tip the scales in favor of unionization. The same warehouse voted against unionization in 2021 but the National Labor Relations Board ordered a second election after finding that Amazon interfered in the first vote.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated during a recent interview that he doesn’t believe union representation would benefit the company’s workers. “It’s employees’ choice whether or not they want to join a union, we happen to think they’re better off not doing so for a couple of reasons at least,” Jassy stated.

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