Amazon workers at Staten Island facility vote against unionization

Workers at an Amazon facility in Staten Island, N.Y., have voted against unionizing, the first loss for a nascent campaign to organize the e-commerce giant’s American locations.

Of the roughly 1,600 workers at the LDJ5 sorting facility, 618 voted against being represented by the Amazon Labor Union. Three hundred and eighty voted to unionize, with two ballots determined to be void.

“We’re glad that our team at LDJ5 were able to have their voices heard,” said Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel. “We look forward to continuing to work directly together as we strive to make every day better for our employees.”

The Amazon Labor Union, an independent group led by current and former Staten Island Amazon workers, secured an unprecedented win at a neighboring warehouse, JFK8, last month.

The group was focused narrowly on the JFK8 site until that election wrapped up in early April, giving the union a tight window to build up support at LDJ5.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact the loss Monday will have on the ALU’s broader ambitions to organize Amazon facilities.

ALU President Christian Smalls, who was fired by Amazon in the spring of 2020 after leading protests, has said that workers at more than 100 facilities have gotten in touch since the union’s win at JFK8 last month.

“No matter the outcome of the election, workers are uniting for change at LDJ5, JFK8 & around the world,” the ALU tweeted Monday.

“Mega-corporations continue to spend millions in union-busting + fear tactics & we continue to organize for a society not based on exploitation & greed.”

The union signaled it would challenge the results of the LDJ5 election, like Amazon has done for JFK8.

“The ALU anticipates filing objections to Amazons’ conduct in the LDJ5 election,” Eric Milner, an attorney representing the ALU for both elections, told The Hill Monday.

This story was updated at 4:14 p.m.