Amazon's attempt to crush New York union slapped down
- Reference: 1673567102
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/01/12/nlrb_amazon_union/
- Source link:
The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) – the trade union group led by Christian Smalls, a former Amazon employee – waged its first successful union campaign against the e-commerce giant, resulting in workers at the JFK8 warehouse voting in favor of joining the group.
Amazon, however, [1]claimed the election, held last year in April, was unfair due to "inappropriate and undue influence" from the ALU and the NLRB. The mega-corp filed objections shortly afterwards, urging officials from the NLRB to overturn the results. It accused the union group and representatives of the federal agency of coercing workers to vote in support of forming a union.
[2]
Cornele Overstreet, the NLRB's regional director overseeing the Phoenix Office, has ruled against Amazon and asserted it has not provided sufficient evidence to support its allegations. The ruling isn't too surprising, considering an initial hearing involving NLRB attorneys [3]dismissed Amazon's claims. Overstreet upheld this decision.
[4]
[5]
The fight isn't quite over yet, however – Amazon is set to appeal the decision to the board in Washington.
"As we've said since the beginning, we don't believe this election process was fair, legitimate or representative of the majority of what our team wants," a spokesperson for the super-biz [6]told The New York Times . Amazon is afraid the union will set a precedent – encouraging more fulfillment centers elsewhere across the country to unionize, paving the way for employees to bargain collectively for improved working conditions and better pay.
[7]
"We worked, had fun and made history," Smalls [8]tweeted after the JFK8 victory. "ALU for the win. Welcome the 1st union in America for Amazon."
[9]Amazon warehouse workers in New York unionize in historic win against web giant
[10]Midwest tornado destroys Amazon warehouse, killing six after worker 'told not to leave'
[11]If at first Amazon doesn't let you succeed, try, try again: Warehouse workers given second chance at union vote
[12]I've got way too much cash, thinks Jeff Bezos. Hmmm, pay more tax? Pay staff more? Nah, let's just go into space
The ALU continues to wage union campaigns against the tech corp, but momentum appears to have fallen. Other attempts to coax warehouse workers into joining haven't been successful. Staff from LDJ5 – a different depot also in Staten Island – [13]voted against joining the ALU. Another group from the BHM1 – a center in Bessemer, Alabama – voted no after holding not one but [14]two elections .
New efforts to collect enough signatures – from at least 30 per cent of employees – to hold another official union election recognized by the NLRB at a fulfilment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, are currently underway, [15]according to the state's largest newspaper, the Star Tribune .
The Register has asked Amazon and the ALU for further comment. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/01/amazon_warehouse_union/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y8E5z7wy84iiv-NYjrXCowAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/02/alu_victory_amazon_union/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y8E5z7wy84iiv-NYjrXCowAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y8E5z7wy84iiv-NYjrXCowAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/business/amazon-staten-island-union.html
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y8E5z7wy84iiv-NYjrXCowAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://twitter.com/Shut_downAmazon/status/1509913203874189319
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/01/amazon_warehouse_union/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/13/deadly_midwest_storms_destroy_amazon_warehouse/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/30/amazon_workers_alabama/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2018/05/03/bezos_billions_space/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/amazon_workers_warehouse_union_vote/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/30/amazon_workers_alabama/
[15] https://www.startribune.com/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: I don't get it
Its because the media belittle the unions as
"Fat lazy union bosses skimming money off your hard earned wages" or some other daily wail type tripe.
Although some anti-union people coming out with that sort of tripe dont like being confronted with "these fat cat union bosses still take 30 yrs or so to earn what the CEOs they are negotiating with earn in a year"
Re: I don't get it
I thought I read somewhere that some employees in Alabama (don't remember if at Amazon specifically or if this was from "man on the street" surveys of passers-by) were concerned that if they did manage to get a union, the company would just close that location and move on (half a loaf -- or, maybe more accurately, "a stale slice" -- being better than none).
Icon for the companies and municipalities that create the conditions for such speculation to be plausible, not for the employees looking out for their paychecks.
The only employers worried about unions…
…are those that have something to worry about.
Natch
—-> All out!
undue influence?
> "inappropriate and undue influence" from the ALU
like.. .existing in first place?
In some aspects, the US are still living in the 19th century.
The unionisation of one location is a risk to the people at that location, the unionisation of the entire staff company-wide - or those staff that work in specific conditions, like in a depot, would shurrrly be a more effective way to prevent the parent company (who are not benevolent) from taking advantage over folk who need to earn a living and are not otherwise protected by legislation. But, something is better than nothing and it’s difficult to know what needs folk remote from you have compared with the people in the same building as you. I hope they are able to have their voice heard and I hope they use their voice wisely. Good luck to them!!
Coventry BHX4 Strike!
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-amazon-workers-set-make-25896006.amp
Meanwhile, Amazon UK Coventry BHX4 out on strike on Jan 25.
Power to the People!!
I don't get it
We can argue for ages whether unions *overall* still fulfil a role nowadays. But, in the *specific* case of Amazon, arguably the closest to a robber-baron corporation straight out of the late 19th/early 20th century, unions would actually seem to make sense, just as they did back then.
So, why aren't they slam dunks? What is it, in the US, that makes them so hard to organise? If you're a drone in a warehouse whose toilet times are getting clocked, ffs, I would have thought you'd have a union formed so fast it'd look like a time lapse on their omnipresent CCTV cameras.