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Amazon fails to overturn union victory at Staten Island warehouse

By Nithya Bose in Amazon News, posted January 12, 2023

Amazon's efforts to overturn a union win at a Staten Island warehouse have been overruled by a federal regulator.

The National Labor Relations Board regional director ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove Amazon's claim of election anomalies.

The official declared that Amazon’s objections to the election should be overruled.

This verdict was widely expected after a labor board hearing officer recommended in September that the company’s objections be rejected.

Amazon claimed that the election was unlawful due to inappropriate conduct by the labor board and the union.

The company said it knew the regional director was unlikely to rule against the agency and has confirmed it will appeal the decision to the Washington Labor Board.

A statement said: “As we’ve said since the beginning, we don’t believe this election process was fair, legitimate or representative of the majority of what our team wants.”

The NLRB regional director concluded that Amazon's proof neither establish that the board or the union acted illegally, nor that their conduct impact the election outcome.

For example, Amazon accused the labor board of failing to regulate the presence of news media members near the polling location.

But the regional director found that “the press was peaceably assembled and not engaged in harassment of voters.”

The official added that the board officials “had no responsibility to instruct the press not to talk to voters or to leave the employer’s property.”

Workers at the JFK8 warehouse decided to join the independent Amazon Labor Union in an election held in April, the results of which were released in April.

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Over 8,000 workers were eligible to vote, and the union won by about 10 percentage points.

After losing a vote to represent workers at a smaller Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, LDJ5, the union lost another vote in October at a warehouse in Albany, New York.

The judgment on Wednesday, January 11, followed another unfavorable ruling for Amazon related to the JFK8 action.

A federal judge in New York issued an injunction in mid-November ordering the firm to "cease and desist" from terminating workers for exercising their labor rights.

The court also mandated company officials to read her ruling to warehouse employees.

Source: The New York Times

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