Posts tagged Staten Island
Amazon Teamsters Face New Challenges in NYC
September 10, 2025 // “The Cemex decision does two key things: one, institutes a new modified…doctrine that facilitates card check recognition; and two, lowers the threshold for when the Board will issue a bargaining order without holding an election,,” the law firm said in the post. The Teamsters spokesman said the union has had successful card check actions at more than 20 DSPs But in February, NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen issued a memo withdrawing earlier guidance on several earlier legal opinions, including the Cemex decision. That would seem to shut off the NLRB–which currently does not have a quorum but is awaiting Senate confirmation of two White House nominees–from approving a card check filing as a means to gain union recognition by Amazon or any employer…unless a full Republican-majority NLRB rules Amazon is a joint employer with the DSPs.
Opinion: Algorithmic surveillance helped Amazon crush unionizing effort
March 21, 2025 // Now, in a critical study titled "Weaponizing the Workplace: How Algorithmic Management Shaped Amazon's Antiunion Campaign in Bessemer, Alabama," Teke Wiggin, a researcher at Northwestern University, says that Amazon might have pressured workers to vote in a certain way. According to Wiggin, Amazon might have leveraged “the specific control technique of algorithmic management to repel (not just prevent) collective action by workers.” “The findings reveal that employers can weaponize elements or effects of algorithmic management against unions via repurposing devices that algorithmically control workers, engaging in 'algorithmic slack-cutting,' and exploiting patterns of social media activity encouraged by algorithmic management,” the paper says.
Commentary: The tough fight to unionize Amazon
March 18, 2025 // Unionizing a gigantic 21st century warehouse with more than 4,000 workers is daunting. What economists call “the churn” of high worker turnover complicates solidarity-building. So does the heterogeneity of the work force at a place like RDU1 between its hip-hop princes, queer young Latinas and tractor-cap Trumpies along with migrants from more than thirty countries. The job’s grind makes mustering energy to raise labor’s flag tough too.
Amazon workers reject union in vote at North Carolina warehouse
February 19, 2025 // Amazon workers at a facility near Raleigh, North Carolina, overwhelmingly voted against unionizing on Saturday. Of the 3,276 ballots cast, there were 2,447 votes opposing the union and 829 in favor, according to the National Labor Relations Board. There were 77 challenged ballots, a gap that’s too narrow to change the outcome of the election. The results still need to be certified by the NLRB.
Amazon’s Fight With Unions Heads to Its Grocery Aisles
January 27, 2025 // Rob Jennings, an employee in the prepared foods section of the Philadelphia store, has worked there for nearly two decades. He said he noticed a series of changes after Amazon bought the chain in 2017: a program that offered employees a portion of the store’s budget surplus was scrapped, part-time workers lost health insurance, staffing levels started to decline. Even though Whole Foods had never been a worker paradise, Mr. Jennings said, “I have a fantasy about bringing back all the things they took away.”
Business groups sue over California’s new ban on captive audience meetings
January 4, 2025 // The law violates these protections by "discriminating against employers’ viewpoints on political matters, regulating the content of employers’ communications with their employees, and by chilling and prohibiting employer speech," the lawsuit said. Employers "have the right to communicate with their employees about the employers’ viewpoints on politics, unionization, and other labor issues."
The Teamsters’ Imaginary Strike against Amazon
January 3, 2025 // The union doesn’t represent any Amazon employees, and it’s relying on its allies in the mainstream media to hype its supposed strike.
The strike against Amazon is over but Teamsters warn: ‘Stay tuned’
December 28, 2024 // The workers in Staten Island voted in favor of representation by the Amazon Labor Union in April 2022. However, even though the National Labor Relations Board certified that vote result, Amazon continues to challenge it in court and won’t recognize the win by a union. Amazon also does not believe that a vote by union members to shift from being represented by the ALU to being affiliated with the Teamsters earlier this year was legally binding. And while the Teamsters announced earlier this month that a majority of employees at San Bernardino signed cards saying they want to be in the Teamsters, there has been no formal vote held there.
Amazon workers plan global protests and strikes on Black Friday
November 25, 2024 // According to organizers, Make Amazon Pay will include participants from more than 80 unions, environmental groups, and activist organizations such as Greenpeace, 350.org, and Amazon Workers International. During the protests, workers will demand that Amazon pay fair wages to employees and commit to environmental sustainability efforts. Workers will also call on the company to pay their fair share of taxes as well as respect employees' rights to unionize.
Democrats make last stand for unions ahead of Trump administration
November 15, 2024 // In a final push to bolster union rights ahead of a Trump presidency, the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday banned employers nationwide from forcing workers to attend antiunion meetings. Separately, Democrats are also deploying a last-ditch effort to try to get the Senate to reconfirm NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran in the last December session, allowing the agency to maintain a Democratic majority and continue its labor-friendly rulings into the next Trump administration.