The Amazon Labor Union, which made history in April by uniting the first Amazon warehouse in the US, lost its last campaign today at a facility in Schodack, New York. Workers voted 406 to 206 against union membership, the second loss of ALU’s three union campaigns at Amazon warehouses.
The result has been a setback for workers seeking more say at Amazon, which is a staunch opponent of unionization and has spent months challenging the only successful campaign on Staten Island.
“We are proud of the brave workers in New York State who stood up in the face of a brutal anti-union campaign to challenge a trillion dollar company,” ALU president Chris Smalls wrote in a statement. saying the union would continue to organize in Schodack. He claimed the vote was unfair because Amazon subjected workers to daily harassment to prevent a union victory.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel welcomed the result in her own statement today. “We are pleased that our team in Albany was able to make their voices heard and that they have chosen to maintain the direct relationship with Amazon as we believe this is the best arrangement for both our employees and customers,” she wrote.
Today’s vote brings the number of Amazon warehouses that have tried to unite to four. After winning the first election at the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island in April, the ALU lost a second election at a smaller warehouse across the street. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union held a run-up this year to represent employees in Bessemer, Alabama, but the result remains too close to mention.
The union defeat at the ALB1 warehouse in Schodack, near Albany, follows a week of labor unrest at Amazon that coincided with last week’s Prime Early Access Sale. Workers from two facilities in Georgia and two in Illinois walked out over demands ranging from pay increases to protections from injury and sexual harassment. On the same day, workers in Moreno Valley, part of California’s Inland Empire logistics center, filed for California’s first ALU elections. Three days later, workers at Amazon’s nearby San Bernardino air transportation hub went on strike, demanding wage increases and improving working conditions.
The campaign defeated today has its roots in the personal history of lead organizer Heather Goodall. She took a job collecting and packing items for shipment at ALB1 in February in an effort to find out if the news she’d read about Amazon’s difficult work environment was true. Her interest in working conditions developed after one of her sons committed suicide and became one of a series of suicides and homicides by employees of chip maker GlobalFoundries, which she believes were linked to a poor work environment. (GlobalFoundries has said worker health and safety is a priority and it offers 24/7 counseling.)
Goodall quickly concluded “that the rumors were true” about Amazon’s harsh working conditions. She witnessed injuries, high staff turnover and signs that read “No Covid Payment. No apologies” against state law, she says. Ambulances are a common occurrence outside the warehouse, Goodall says, and one came for her once after her heart condition flared up while she was on duty. “If you see it daily or weekly, it normalizes and people stop questioning it,” she says.
