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Amazon workers in upstate New York file petition to hold union elections


Backed by the grassroots labor group that secured an Amazon warehouse’s first union win in the US, another warehouse worker filed Tuesday for an election in upstate New York. York in hopes of a similar outcome.

Spokesperson of National Labor Relations Board said the lawsuit was filed against a warehouse called ALB1, located in the town of Schodack, about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Albany.

To qualify for a union election, the NLRB requires the signatures of 30 percent of eligible voters at a particular facility. Whether or not workers reach that threshold will likely be phased out in the coming weeks.

Paul Flaningan, a Amazon The company has about 1,000 warehouse workers at the Schodack site, a spokesman said. But in the filing, the Amazon Labor Union, the fledgling union that advocates for workers, said there would be about 400 employees in its bargaining unit.

Heather Goodall, a warehouse worker and a former insurance agent who heads the organizing effort, said in an interview earlier this month that workers have enough support to file a union claim, but chose to delay to get even more signatures. On Tuesday, she said the group’s lawyers were not ready to release the number of signatures collected to the public.

The NLRB must now verify whether the workers who signed the petition are eligible to stand in an election. If the agency approves, it will set a date and time for an election between the company and the Amazon Labor Union, which gave the union victory in Staten Island, New York in April.

The union, which includes former and current warehouse workers, began supporting organizing efforts in upstate New York after Goodall, who joined Amazon in February, reached out to determine the conditions. company working conditions. She quickly began talking to her colleagues about organizing and launching the union campaign in May with another group of workers.

Soon after, Goodall said she met with Teamsters and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Coalition, or RWDSU, which also participated in Amazon in a union election at a facility in Bessemer, Alabama, The results are still controversial.

In the end, she said, organizers decided to pursue a more grassroots and ALU approach, based on the belief that the group understands the company better than other established unions.

“It makes sense for us to work directly with them and continue to build the Amazon Labor Union across the country,” Goodall said.

A labor victory in Schodack would essentially expand ALU’s support within the Amazon and make it a point of contact for labor concerns beyond Staten Island. It could also revive enthusiasm that began to flare after the team suffered a loss in May at a second warehouse on Staten Island and reported that it had halted the organization at two other nearby facilities.

At the same time, the ALU is defending its only win over Amazon, which filed more than two dozen objections to that election. Attorneys for both sides attempted to discredit the statements of others during the controversial, weeklong NLRB hearing that ended in mid-July. A ruling on that case is expected to be issued in the coming weeks.

Organizers say Amazon has begun holding meetings with workers in Schodack to discourage them from canceling their cooperation. In a statement, Flaningan, an Amazon spokesperson, said employees can choose what they want to do.

“As a company, we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees,” says Flaningan.

Meanwhile, dozens of TikTok creators pledged to stop doing business with Amazon until it meets the union’s requirements, such as a minimum wage of $30 (about Rs 2,300) an hour and time longer breaks. On Tuesday, the nonprofit Gen-Z for Change unveiled a campaign backed by about 70 content creators who said they would refuse to monetize their platform to Amazon except when there are “tangible changes” to improve working conditions.

“Amazon’s widespread abuse of its workers and blatant use of union sabotage tactics will no longer be tolerated by the TikTok Community or TikTok Creators,” the letter shared by the group on Twitter read. know.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment on the campaign.

Other campaigns have been waged at company warehouses in states like Kentucky and North Carolina as workers try to gather enough signatures to petition for their own election. Among other things, workers in upstate New York are calling for better training at the company’s warehouse and higher wages.

“We have employees who can’t even work because they can’t afford gas,” Goodall said. “They don’t have enough money to fix their cars, they can’t afford to feed their families.”

The petition comes as Amazon and its warehouse operations across the country come under broader scrutiny. On Monday, dozens of workers at a company’s air hub in San Bernardino, California quit their jobs in protest at low wages and safety due to the heat.

Federal officials have also become more involved. Last month, OSHA inspected Amazon facilities in several states after receiving referrals for health and safety violations. The civil division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is also investigating safety hazards at Amazon warehouses and what a spokesperson for the office called “fraud.” fraud designed to hide injuries from OSHA and others.”




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