Apr 13

Apr 13 Staten Island first successful unionization effort at Amazon By Jordan Conestabile

Amazon has unionized employees for the first time in its 27-year history. Workers from the Staten Island Warehouse voted 2,654 to 2,131 in favor of forming with the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).

The results of ALU’s victory against the country’s second largest private employer marks a reversal in the decline of labor unions in fighting for better working conditions, benefits and wages for its membership.

The ACU was founded by a former Amazon employee Christian Smalls. Smalls, the current ACU president, worked for Amazon until he was fired for leading a protest against the company for unsafe working conditions and overly demanding production standards.

Amazon is one of the big four tech companies that have been accused of mistreatment of their employees. Most recently, Amazon was criticized for disregarding the health and safety of their employees when six employees were killed during a tornado strike in Edwardsville, Illinois. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform opened an investigation into the company’s labor practices during sever weather events.

The Staten Island vote was only of one several unionization attempts at Amazon across the country. For instance, there was a vote at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama. The union failed in its first attempt to organize by a 2 to 1 margin. A revote was implemented by the National Labor Relations Board after its finding that Amazon violated US labor laws.

The vote count was 993 against and 875 in favor with over 400 votes being challenged. The Bessemer decision is now contingent on a court hearing to determine the validity and status of the challenged votes.

ACU’s election victory in Staten Island has been classified as “jaw dropping results” by John Logan, professor of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University. “There really is no bigger prize for unions than winning at Amazon.”

Jordon Conestabile is a Political Science student at Utica University