Workers at an Amazon.com Inc warehouse in New York City voted to form the first union at the second-largest US private employer, a victory that adds to recent grassroots successes by labour activists pushing into new industries.
An Amazon distribution centre. Amazon is the second largest private employer in the US. (File photo). Photo: 123rf
Employees at the online retailer's fulfilment centre in the borough of Staten Island, known as JFK8, secured a majority by voting 2654 to 2131 in support of the Amazon Labour Union (ALU).
The result shows about 55 percent of voters were in favour, according to a count released on Friday by the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB).
The vote represented a victory for US organised labour and a milestone for labour advocates, who for years have considered Amazon's labour practices a threat to workers.
Union organizer Christian Smalls, dressed all in Amazon Labour Union red, raised a hand in victory after the win, while ALU members popped champagne in celebration.
"We're disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees," Amazon said in a statement.
The company added that it is evaluating options, including filing objections based on what it called inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB.
A spokesperson for the NLRB noted that it is an independent federal agency and said its actions have been consistent with its congressional mandate.
Shares of Amazon closed at $US3271.20, up less than 1 percent on the day.
Assuming the vote clears any objections and the union is certified by the NLRB as representing employees, union negotiators would still have to bargain with Amazon in order to deliver on expectations of better compensation and working conditions.
Geebah Sando, a package sorter who voted for the union after working more than two years at JFK8, said he was thrilled.
"With the union together, we are united," Sando said, adding that the labour group could help workers advocate for better pay, break and vacation time.
Many doubted Smalls when he announced plans to unionize JFK8 last year, but he set up a tent outside the warehouse, while supporters in the building touted how a union could demand higher wages, safer conditions and job security.
Amazon was founded in 1994 as a small virtual bookstore by now-billionaire Jeff Bezos. The company in mid-2021 said it had just under a million US employees, and it now has a market capitalization of about $US1.7 trillion.
Walmart Inc, the number one US private employer, has nearly 1.6 million US employees, and is not unionised.
Labour expert and professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University Dan Cornfield called the vote a "momentous victory for working people who are doing homegrown union organising."
Cornfield said he expects the win to accelerate the already rapidly growing labour activism across the US retail sector.
"It's almost like a David and Goliath type of victory," Cornfield said. "There's already a wave (of activism) occurring, and this will encourage more of that."
'A free and fair choice'
US President Joe Biden was glad to see Amazon workers' voices were heard, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. Psaki added that Biden believes that "every worker in every state should have a free and fair choice to join a union" and that Amazon workers on Staten Island "made their choice to organise a grassroots union, bargain for better jobs and a better life."
Other recent labour drives are picking up momentum. Nine US Starbucks stores have voted to organise, with more than 150 more seeking elections.
At an Amazon facility in Alabama, by contrast, a majority of workers rejected unionisation, though the outcome was not final.
The Alabama contest could hinge on 416 challenged ballots to be adjudicated in the coming weeks, which are sufficient to change the result, the NLRB said. The situation is far different from last year when workers sided with Amazon by a more than 2-to-1 margin against unionising.
Amazon workers responded to more in-person outreach by labour activists as the pandemic subsided. A second company warehouse in Staten Island, LDJ5, will also vote on whether to unionize, starting on 25 April.
The number of employees eligible to participate in the Staten Island vote was 8325, the NLRB said.
-Reuters