Posts tagged Staten Island

NYC Amazon Workers Overwhelmingly Reject Unionization In Brutal Defeat for Union Organizers
May 2, 2022 // Today’s crippling defeat for the ALU shows that the media’s wishcasting was not based in reality and raises critical questions as to whether the JFK8 union vote was just a fluke. There are certainly ample reasons to question the legitimacy of the ALU’s Staten Island victory. The NLRB – supposedly the impartial referee of representation elections – put its thumb on the scale just one week before the JFK8 vote commenced.

Amazon Labor Union Rejected 618-380 at Second Staten Island Facility
May 2, 2022 // “In a ballot count held by the National Labor Relations Board, workers at the Amazon sorting facility known as LDJ5 rejected unionizing by a count of 618-380,” reports HuffPost’s Dave Jamieson. “The labor board has not yet certified the results to make them official, and the union may challenge them.”
Donald Morrison: After losing ground for decades, unions regaining a foothold in American workforce
May 2, 2022 // Which, come to think of it, is why people are joining unions, as well as clubs, teams, rock bands and nations — not just for personal enrichment, but for the thrill of being part of something bigger, something better than our own flawed and lonely march through life.
The Future of Unions (Gallup Polling)
May 2, 2022 // In short, views of unions do not significantly divide the rich versus the poor, the highly educated versus the less well educated or women versus men. Views of unions are largely a factor of the individual's underlying political and ideological orientation.
$30 per hour to start? Staten Island Amazon union has high hopes, but could face a tough road after victory
April 29, 2022 // Among other things, the nascent Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, has said it wants longer breaks for warehouse employees, more time off and a dramatically higher minimum hourly wage of $30, up from just over $18 an hour now at the Staten Island facility.

The Video Democrats Don’t Want You to Watch
April 27, 2022 //

Amazon Takes On the National Labor Relations Board
April 27, 2022 // In the 25 official objections Amazon filed with the board, the company argues that the NLRB’s “interference and mismanagement” prevented “a free and fair election” at its Staten Island facility. Among other things, Amazon alleges that the board arbitrarily excluded some workers from the bargaining unit in which the union had to show 30% support to hold a vote. The company also alleges the NLRB let union representatives distribute marijuana to workers in exchange for votes and intimidate workers opposed to collective bargaining. (The union’s lawyer told the Associated Press that the intimidation allegation is “patently absurd” and handing out marijuana “is no different from distributing free T-shirts and it certainly did not act to interfere with the election.”)
Sanders pressures Biden on Amazon unions: ‘The time for talk is over’
April 27, 2022 // The Vermont senator sent Biden a Tuesday letter, obtained by POLITICO, asking the president to cut off federal contracts to Amazon until the massive company stops what he calls its “illegal anti-union activity.” As the Senate Budget Committee chair, Sanders will also hold a hearing next week dedicated to calculating how many federal contracts go to companies that are fighting back against unionization efforts, with a focus on Amazon.

Workers Are Beating Big Bosses, but Organized Labor Can’t Keep Up
April 27, 2022 // Worker-led unions are transformational, while organized labor has become transactional.
How Amazon’s unlikely union reflects the changing face of US labour movement
April 26, 2022 // Professional labour activists will be watching closely as the Amazon Labour Union faces its second test on Monday, as workers at a smaller facility across the street begin casting ballots in their own union election. It is unclear if the grassroots strategies that succeeded the first time — such as connecting over home-cooked meals and bus stop bonfires — will produce the same results at other facilities.