Workers at JFK8, an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York, have reportedly collected sufficient signatures to proceed with a union election vote. A National Labor Relations Board spokesperson, chatting with Reuters, confirmed that the employees had “reached a enough displaying of curiosity,” confirming a tweet from key organizer Chris Smalls.
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That threshold of curiosity, by the way, is 30 % of a given workforce, which was possible a tough feat given each the dimensions of JFK8 and the character of its round the clock shifts which guarantee many coworkers by no means have trigger to fulfill. More spectacular is that this facility is seemingly being organized with out the assistance of a longtime union, however as a substitute by a brand new unbiased group endemic to this explicit Fulfillment Center, calling itself the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).
ALU had beforehand submitted a petition for unionization, however withdrew it late final yr after being knowledgeable by the NLRB that it had not collected sufficient signatures.
Reached for remark, an Amazon spokesperson advised Engadget “We’re skeptical that there are a enough variety of reliable signatures and we’re searching for to know how these signatures have been verified. Our staff have at all times had a alternative of whether or not or to not be part of a union, and as we noticed only a few months in the past, the overwhelming majority of our workforce in Staten Island didn’t help the ALU.”
This milestone comes shortly earlier than Amazon staff in Bessemer, Alabama are scheduled to carry a re-vote on their very own union election — in that occasion, underneath the auspices of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — on February 4th. A union vote befell on the facility nearly precisely one yr earlier than, however the NLRB decided that Amazon had interfered within the election.
In the case of JFK8, Amazon has till Friday to reply with its place. A listening to on the matter is slated for February sixteenth.