Amazon workers at a New York warehouse voted to join an upstart labor union, an historic victory that gives organized labor its first foothold in the company’s U.S. operations and could embolden workers at other employers.
The election at Amazon’s JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island wasn’t close, with the Amazon Labor Union winning 2,654 yes votes versus 2,131 no votes for the company. After signing the election results, ALU founder Christian Smalls clapped, pointed his fingers to the sky and raised a fist in triumph.
“Amazon wanted to make me the face of the whole unionizing efforts against them,” Smalls tweeted as the results came in Friday. “Welp there you go! Welcome the 1st union in America for Amazon.”
The victory is a watershed moment for Amazon. The Seattle-based company has managed to keep unions out of its U.S. operations for more than a quarter-century. Unless the company can get the result overturned, Amazon will have to start contract negotiations that potentially could hamper its ability to adjust work requirements and scheduling on the fly. The company has until April 8 to dispute the results.
