Amazon workers reject union in latest US warehouse vote / Photo: © AFP/File
Amazon workers reject union in latest US warehouse vote
Workers at an Amazon warehouse near Albany voted decisively against establishing a union, US officials announced Tuesday, dealing a setback to the fledgling labor drive at the e-commerce behemoth.
The tally was 406 against Amazon Labor Union's (ALU) proposal and 206 in support of the organization, said a spokeswoman for the National Labor Relations Board.
The election marks the second straight defeat for the ALU, which surged to prominence in April following its upset win at a large Staten Island warehouse that voted to become Amazon's first US facility to unionize.
After prevailing in the 8,000 employee JFK8 warehouse, the ALU lost a second election in May at the smaller LDJ5 warehouse, which is also in Staten Island.
The union was established in 2021 by a small group of current and ex-employees frustrated over Amazon's workforce policies during the Covid pandemic and is led by president Christian Smalls, a former worker at the Staten Island site.
Smalls said he was "proud" of the effort ahead of the election results on Tuesday.
"Taking on a Trillion dollar company can never be a loss for workers," Smalls tweeted.
"We will continue to empower all workers to give them the right to unionize. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!"
P.Barth--BP
