The Amazon Labor Union lost a follow-up election to organize workers at a second facility on Staten Island by a 2–1 margin, a month after the union’s historic victory organizing a nearby Amazon warehouse last month.
On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board said workers at an Amazon sorting facility voted 618 to 380 against joining the union. LDJ5, as the facility is known, voted several weeks after workers at JFK8, the Amazon warehouse that became the first of its kind in the U.S. to unionize. “It’s a huge disappointment for the Amazon Labor Union the day after May Day,” said Jason Anthony, an ALU organizer.
The union had bet that its grassroots strategy could defeat the e-commerce giant for a second time and that it could challenge the results of the vote based on Amazon’s union-busting efforts, giving them more time to organize the workers. The vote at LDJ5 followed so quickly after the campaign at JFK8 that the union’s worker-organizers were strapped for the time and resources they needed to secure another bargaining unit.
In an email statement, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said, “We’re glad that our team at LDJ5 were able to have their voices heard. We look forward to continuing to work directly together as we strive to make every day better for our employees.”
