Sore Losers: Amazon Plans to Appeal Landmark Staten Island Union Win

Lucas NolanApril 8, 2022

Amazon reportedly plans to object to a recent union election victory at its Staten Island warehouse, alleging that organizers pressured workers into voting.

Engadget reports that e-commerce giant Amazon plans to object to a recent union election victory at the company’s Staten Island warehouse. Amazon reportedly plans to claim that organizers pressure workers at the facility into voting to organize.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

(Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazon announced its plans to appeal the warehouse workers’ union election in a legal filing released publicly earlier this week. In the recent unionization vote, 55 percent of workers at the JFK8 warehouse voted to join the Amazon Labor Union; now the company has until April 22 to formally file an objection to the unionization with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The company wrote in its filing that it believe that the union threatened employees to vote to unionize. Interestingly, the NLRB has accused Amazon of threatening employees to do the exact opposite. The e-commerce giant also alleged that the union engaged in “electioneering” or interfering with employees as they waited to vote.

Amazon is claiming that long wait times at polling booths resulted in a low voter turnout. The company is further alleging that organizers stood near polling areas, intimidating voters. The Seattle-based company claims that union organizers even threatened immigrant employees with the loss of their rights if they did not vote in favor of the union.

Eric Milner, a lawyer representing the ALU, stated: “To say that the Amazon Labor Union was threatening employees is really absurd. The Amazon Labor Union is Amazon employees.”

Another labor union attempting to organize at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, facility has since filed its objections regarding the pending results of its recent rerun election. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) claims that Amazon engaged in “countless attempts to intimidate workers” at the Bessemer facility.

The RWDSU claims that Amazon went as far as to fire or suspend workers who supported unionization at the facility. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum in a statement: “Amazon’s behavior must not go unchallenged, and workers in Bessemer, Alabama must have their rights protected under the law. We urge the NLRB to carefully review our objections and ensure no company, not even with the bottomless pockets of Amazon, is allowed to act above the law.”