Amazon loses effort to cancel Etihad win at Staten Island facility

Chris Smalls and Derek Palmer at the temporary headquarters of the Amazon Workers’ Federation in Staten Island, New York, on June 15, 2022.

Katie Skoloff

An official at the National Labor Relations Board recommended Thursday that you should hold onto a historic union victory at the Staten Island warehouse in Amazon.

In April, more than 2,600 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, known as JFK8, Been voted To join the Amazon Workers Union, becoming the first group to vote for unions at one of the US e-commerce giant’s facilities.

Amazon in May sought to annul the election results. She filed a memo with the NLRB accusing the federal agency’s Brooklyn office of violating labor law by appearing to support the union campaign. Amazon, which included 25 objections in its filing, also alleged that labor regulators intimidated workers into voting for them.

Amazon’s objections began 24 days of hearings held via Zoom as the company’s lawyers, NLRB’s Region 29 office, and the ALU dissected behavior during the election. JFK8 workers and union organizers, including Chris Smalls, co-founder and interim president of ALU, were among more than a dozen witnesses called to testify.

Lisa Dunn, the NLRB attorney presiding over the hearing, concluded in a Thursday memo that Amazon “has not fulfilled the burden of creating the agency, union or any other parties” engaged in unacceptable conduct affecting election results, NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Bladeau said. Blado said Dunn also recommended ALU certification as a negotiating representative.

Amazon has until September 16 to file objections to Dunn’s recommendations, which will then be heard by the NLRB’s regional director. The regional director will determine whether to request a new union election, or certify the results of the April election, at which point Amazon will be required to begin contract negotiations with the ALU.

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The union said in a statement it was pleased with the hearing officer’s recommendations.

“We hope that the 28th District Director can expedite obtaining our certifications and that the NLRB enforces Amazon’s legal obligation to negotiate with ALU workers,” the union said in a statement. Posted on Twitter.

Representatives from Amazon and NLRB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ALU, a grassroots organization of current and former Amazon employees, has sought to extend its reach beyond JFK8. The union in May failed to replicate its successful union campaign at another warehouse on Staten Island, but it gained traction elsewhere.

Workers at an Amazon warehouse near Albany she seeks to be represented by the ALU. The NLRB has yet to set a date for that election. Kentucky Depot Amazon has also expressed a desire to organize within an ALU.

Watch: How two friends formed the first American association for Amazon and what’s next

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