Posts tagged Amazon Labor Union
Judge tells Amazon: Stop retaliating against employees
December 1, 2022 // According to the decision, the NLRB's argument was that failing to rehire the terminated employee would result in a weakening of the ALU's ability to organize. There wasn't any evidence presented to indicate that, the judge said, adding that the employee "was terminated approximately one year before the ALU was formed." Per the judge, that means this case is distinguishable from similar ones in which reinstatement would be justified. JFK8 employees voted to join the ALU in April 2022, not long after the ALU petitioned the NLRB for the right to hold a union election. Another vote to organize a second Staten Island warehouse in May of this year failed to pass, which led the NLRB to file another complaint against Amazon in September alleging unfair treatment of union organizers. The NLRB alleges the treatment may have affected the vote, and the case is still ongoing.
Trader Joe’s United’s first loss is further proof that unionizing isn’t easy
November 2, 2022 // Ananya Bhattacharya Mon, October 31, 2022 at 4:43 AM·3 min read Three months into its unionizing efforts, Trader Joe’s United has lost its winning streak. At a Trader Joe’s store in Brooklyn, workers on Oct. 28 voted 94 to 66 against joining the independent union, which represents employees at two other stores in Massachusetts and in Minnesota.
Freedom of Speech? Not if the National Labor Relations Board Gets Its Way
October 31, 2022 // Amazon unionization efforts recently failed in Albany, NY in October. Workers said no by an almost 2 to 1 margin. In total, less than a quarter of all employees voted for representation by the Amazon Labor Union. Shortly after, the union withdrew its petition to try to organize a California warehouse. It also lost a second vote in Staten Island in May. Amazon workers are clearly saying no to unionization. The NLRB and unions are responding by threatening a bedrock constitutional right of all Americans.
California Amazon workers withdraw petition for union vote after New York defeat
October 27, 2022 // Six months after the grassroots Amazon Labor Union scored a historic victory by becoming the first to unionize one of the tech giant’s US facilities, it now appears to be grappling with setbacks and delays. Workers at a California Amazon facility withdrew their petition late last week to unionize with the ALU, just days after the labor group failed to win enough votes to unionize an Amazon facility in upstate New York. Kayla Blado, a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board, confirmed to CNN Business on Tuesday that the petition for a union election at the ONT8 facility in Moreno Valley, California, had been withdrawn.
Workers Should Be Able to Hear from Both Sides Before Union Votes
October 27, 2022 // To labor activists such “captive audience” mandatory meetings constitute union-busting. National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has asked the full board to outlaw the practice. (The board has thus far not acted on her request.) Congressional Democrats have tried to get rid of them too. The pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act would prohibit companies from making the meetings mandatory. The legislation has stalled in the Senate. There is no good reason why managers shouldn’t be able to make a pitch to workers just like union activists. Collective bargaining is—or at least ought to be—the workers’ choice. They should be able to hear from all sides before they decide.
Amazon workers reject union bid in upstate New York
October 19, 2022 // Warehouse workers near Albany cast 406 votes out of the 612 ballots counted — or about 66% — against the Amazon Labor Union, giving the company enough support to push back the fledgling group composed of former and current Amazon workers. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which is responsible for overseeing the election, 206 workers — or 33.6% — voted in favor of joining the union. The agency said 949 employees were eligible to vote, and the 31 additional ballots that were challenged by either Amazon or the union were not enough to sway the outcome.
Labor agency tallies votes in another Amazon union election
October 18, 2022 // This will be the fourth union election at an Amazon warehouse this year, and the third one led by the Amazon Labor Union. The upstart group secured an unexpected win in April at a company warehouse on Staten Island but was stung by a loss shortly thereafter at another facility nearby. A union election in Alabama, led by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, remains too close to call. Amazon has been trying to undo the ALU's lone victory, filing more than two dozen objections to the election and seeking a redo vote. Last month, a federal labor official concluded the union should be certified as a bargaining representative for the warehouse. Amazon, which hasn't recognized the union, said it intends to appeal the decision. And CEO Andy Jassy has also signaled the company could take the case to federal court. ALU organizers say they’re focused on petitioning for more elections and pressuring Amazon to negotiate a contract at the facility that voted to unionize. Experts note a win in Schodack — located near one of the most unionized metro areas in the country, according to Unionstats.com — would offer the group more leverage and a chance to demonstrate its prior win wasn’t a one-off.
Amazon suspends at least 50 workers after fire protest
October 10, 2022 // Amazon has suspended at least 50 warehouse employees who refused to work their shifts following a trash compactor fire at one of its New York facilities, according to union organizers. The company suspended the workers, with pay, on Tuesday, a day after the fire disrupted operations at the Staten Island warehouse that voted to unionize earlier this year. Derrick Palmer, the vice president of the Amazon Labor Union, said day-shift workers were sent home with pay due to the fire, which began late afternoon Monday. But night-shift employees, who were just coming in for their shift were told to remain in a break area until management figured out the situation, he said.
Teamsters union launches new division for Amazon employees
September 8, 2022 // Teamsters' plans to create a company-specific division for Amazon, the second-largest U.S. private employer, were laid out last year. "Our new division affords a nationwide network of resources to all Amazon workers, behind the wheel of any truck or hard at work in any facility, to strategize with the union, mobilize in their communities, and succeed together," Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien said in a statement. Teamsters, which has 1.2 million members, appointed Randy Korgan as director of the new Amazon division.
‘Retaliation Fund’: NY Amazon Workers Hoping To Unionize Start GoFundMe
August 29, 2022 // Employees at an Amazon fulfillment center in New York who are trying to unionize have launched a GoFundMe campaign to combat what they describe as retaliation from management.