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Employees at the LDJ5 sortation center are weighing whether to
join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), a group led by current and
former warehouse workers. Associates at a larger facility known
as JFK8 recently voted to join the ALU and create Amazon's first
organized workplace in the United States.
A second election win would underscore the ALU's potential to
organize more facilities at Amazon, the second largest U.S.
private employer and could help spur more organizing efforts at
other companies across the country.
Amazon workers from more than 100 other U.S. worksites have
expressed interest in unionizing, according to the labor group.
A loss would point to the tough road ahead. Amazon is contesting
the JFK8 vote before the U.S. National Labor Relations Board,
and the company has told workers that unions cannot guarantee
better pay or benefits.
The company has said it wants workers' voices to be heard and
claims that its opponents depressed turnout at JFK8. The ALU has
dismissed the allegations.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
rallied workers Sunday in Staten Island ahead of the LDJ5 vote.
"What this whole struggle is about is whether we continue to
have an economy in which billionaires get much richer while the
middle class shrinks, or whether we have an economy that works
for all," Sanders said.
Derrick Palmer, the union’s vice president of organizing, said:
"Now that we've won, I’m just glad that everyone’s finally
waking up and realizing the power that we have."
The public ballot count is expected to begin May 2.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in Newark, New Jersey and Krystal
Hu in New York; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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