U. S. Labor Council supported Amazon workers’ union
2023.01.12 14:04
U. S. Labor Council supported Amazon workers’ union
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:) has been upheld by a director of the US labor board. A decision released on Wednesday said that workers’ historic union victory at a warehouse in New York brought the online retailer closer to having to negotiate a contract with employees.
Amazon can begin negotiations with the workers at its JFK8 facility in the New York City borough of Staten Island or appeal the decision to a larger panel at the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NRLB).
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, stated in a statement, “We knew it was unlikely that the NLRB Regional Office would rule against itself, and intend to appeal.”
Nantel went on to say, “We don’t think this election process was fair, legitimate, or representative of the majority of what our team wants.”
In the nearly three decades that Amazon has been in business, this victory marked the first time U.S. employees had decided to unionize. It was also a turning point for organized labor, which has complained about productivity tracking and other practices at the country’s second-largest private employer.
The announcement comes at a time when Amazon proposed closing three warehouses in the United Kingdom and opening others in the country and sought to lay off more than 18,000 corporate employees in light of economic uncertainty.
In a tweet, the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) praised the decision made by the labor board director.
In March of last year, approximately 55% of employees who cast ballots decided to join the union, which argued for better pay and job security. About 8,000 eligible voters cast their ballots, and 58% of them did so.
Since then, Amazon has slowed the ALU’s progress. Since then, workers at various facilities in the state of New York have rejected joining the union in two elections, and Amazon opposed the first contest.
In accordance with the recommendations made by an NLRB hearing officer a year ago, the regional director of the NLRB overruled those objections on Wednesday.
