Amazon workers at another Staten Island warehouse petition for union election
Ballots are being mailed to workers in Alabama for a separate union push
A group of Amazon workers at another warehouse on New York's Staten Island filed a petition to unionize, according to U.S. labor board officials.
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National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) spokesperson Kayla Blado said its local office in Brooklyn received a petition from the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) to unionize LDJ5, a warehouse in Staten Island, on Thursday.
The labor board is in the process of confirming that the "union has met the showing of interest requirement to proceed with a union election," Blado said, adding that it could take a few days.
Unions need to garner support from at least 30% of workers who are eligible to vote in order to hold an official election under the supervision of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, according to the agency's policies.
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Just last week, workers at another Staten Island warehouse, known as the JFK8 facility, signed and submitted at least 1,500 union cards saying they were in favor of a union. That's at least 30% of the 5,000 workers that petitioned for the union, according to the labor board.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 181.28 | -2.04 | -1.11% |
The union drive in New York City is working without the help of a national sponsor and is being spearheaded by a former Amazon employee, Christian Smalls. He said he was fired just hours after he organized a walkout in March 2020 to protest working conditions at the outset of the pandemic.
The ALU couldn’t be reached immediately for comment. However, Smalls told Reuters after the first warehouse was approved for a union election, that "to get over this hump, the show of interest, it’s definitely historic for us."
Meanwhile, across the country, ballots were mailed out to workers in Bessemer, Alabama, on Friday for a do-over election.
The do-over election was ordered by the labor board after determining that Amazon unfairly influenced the first election last year. Last time, however, workers overwhelmingly rejected the union push which was spearheaded by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. That union is also leading the most recent push.
Representatives for Amazon did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
