History! Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York voted in favor of union representation on 1er April, a first in the United States. Amazon challenges the influence on the ballot of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency responsible for labor law across the Atlantic. An appeal is being considered.
Joe Biden expresses satisfaction
By 2654 votes for against 2131 against, the employees of the Amazon JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island proclaimed a big yes for the emergence of a union on the spot. 8,325 current and former employees spoke from March 25-30. The count was provided by the NLRB.
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US President Joe Biden welcomed it through his spokesperson Jen Psaki, he said to himself ” happy that employees make sure to be heard for important decisions “. A recurring defense of the unions in the Democrat.
Workers should be represented by the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), created a year ago. Its president, Christian Smalls, 33, is a former JFK8. He hailed the win saying, ” People spoke today, they want a union », « because while he was up there, we were able to set up a union “, according to’AFP.
Christian Smalls was fired in 2020 after a strike prompted by pandemic concerns. Amazon explained at the time that it had made this decision because it would not have respected the rules of distancing. In a memo, David Zapolsky, senior vice president and chief legal officer of Amazon, described it as ” neither intelligent nor eloquent “.
Amazon’s anti-union policy undermined
Amazon, the second largest employer in the United States with about 1.2 million employees, has always pursued an aggressive anti-union policy. Based on documents from the US Department of Labor, the Huffington Post revealed that the company spent $4.3 million on anti-union consulting in 2021.
Mandatory meetings are imposed on employees. Amazon asserts that it is not in their interest to trust a union and that it takes care of everything. The company highlights the salary increases it has granted, with an average salary of around $18, compared to $7.25 nationally. She also explains that she agreed to certain social benefits and was attentive to the safety of her employees, after several accidents. the wall street journal reports that Amazon believes unions would hamper the company’s agility to implement these benefits.
A beginning ?
For its part, the ALU wishes to defend a paid lunch break of one hour, the introduction of sick leave, a salary increase and a union presence during disciplinary councils. The concrete consequences of the vote should take some time to arrive. It will be necessary to find an agreement with Amazon, without mentioning the risk of recourse.
This vote remains very symbolic for the moment. JFK8 is just one of the company’s more than 1,000 warehouses in the United States. By the end of April, 1,500 employees will participate in a vote to establish a new branch of the ALU in a sorting center, located across the street.
In Alabama, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), a national distribution union, is trying to achieve the same result as in New York. A first election in April 2021 failed, but was ruled illegal by the NLRB. On March 31, the count was set at 993 no for 875 yes, but 416 ballots are contested. A hearing is due to determine the final count in the coming weeks.