Amazon Labor Union suffers setback in Albany warehouse election

Albany, New York - After months of organizing in the face of alleged union-busting tactics by one of the world's biggest corporations, workers at the Amazon's ALB1 warehouse near Albany voted against joining the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).

Workers rallied on October 10 to support a yes vote for the union ahead of the election.
Workers rallied on October 10 to support a yes vote for the union ahead of the election.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

More Perfect Union broke the news Tuesday morning on Twitter, confirming that the final count in the much-anticipated union election was 406 no votes to 206 yeses. Just over 900 people were eligible to vote.

It comes as a bitter disappointment to those who had been working hard to secure what would have been Amazon's second-ever union. That they had to do so under allegedly hostile conditions put in place by their company goes some way towards explaining the final result.

Chris Smalls, the ALU president, responded on Twitter, writing: "Proud of the brave workers of ALB1 regardless of todays results taking on a Trillion dollar company can never be a loss for workers. We will continue to empower all workers to give them the right to unionize."

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"You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!" he added.

Amazon faces consistent accusations of union-busting

ALU president Chris Smalls addresses a crowd at a Staten Island Amazon facility.
ALU president Chris Smalls addresses a crowd at a Staten Island Amazon facility.  © REUTERS

Ever since ALB1 employees filed for a union election in August, there's been a steady stream reports detailing extreme union-busting stunts by Amazon management. They range from "anti-union consultants" sneaking into the workplace to have "conversations" with people, to workers being held in captive audience meetings about the dangers of forming a union.

Ultimately, these are the same tactics that Amazon was accused of in previous high-profile union elections. While the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island became the first Amazon facility to unionize back in April, workers at a LDJ5 in the same location voted no, and so did those in Bessemer, Alabama. In both those cases, though, there were accusations of rampant union-busting.

The trillion-dollar company has also been fighting tooth-and-nail to reverse ALU's win at JFK8, although the National Labor Relations Board has ruled against it.

Meanwhile, workers at a warehouse in Moreno Valley, California, have recently filed their own petition for a union vote, which would be first for an Amazon facility in the Golden State.

Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

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