Amazon Labor Union: Roundup
The NLRB rejected Amazon’s challenge to the union certification process at the JFK8 facility in Staten Island, New York, clearing the way for the Amazon Labor Union to represent the workforce as a collective bargaining unit.
In light of this win for labor at one of the largest and most fiercely anti-labor companies in America, Hump Day News takes a look at some of the other Amazon locations engaged in the struggle to organize and defend their labor rights.
How many Amazon locations are organizing? It’s unclear whether anyone has pulled together a list that is current and worthy of being called definitive. It’s also unclear what the threshold for “organizing” is, given the amount of work that happens beneath the radar before even the first petition to unionize gets circulated. But Christian Smalls of the ALU claimed over 50 locations had reached out to the union as of early April. Take that as the tip of a larger iceberg.
MQY1: Amazon Fulfillment Center in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
A warehouse facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, MQY1, announced a union drive in late July. The facility is the largest in the Greater Nashville area and opened last summer to modest fanfare. While corporate leadership may be blushing with pride over the advanced robotics inside the warehouse, equipped with sensors to “enable robotics to keep from running into workers onsite,” the human workers are concerned about more than just getting run over by Bezos’ fleet of Terminators.
Alexander Willis reports on conditions and demands for the warehouse workers, via Biz Journals:
In the union campaign video, a man who identifies himself as employee Alexander Willis urges colleagues to back the effort.
"We all work really, really hard. We make a lot of money for Amazon. Do not let them convince you that it's an absurd request to demand a living wage in reasonable working conditions," Willis said.
"If we ask individually, I'm sure they'd be nice to us but nicely tell us no, it's not in the budget, we can't do it right now," he said. "But asking and negotiating for those things collectively, we can actually put some weight behind our demands."
Willis said the company raised wages by 75 cents an hour in June. That would be a 4.7% increase for a warehouse worker making $16 an hour, Willis said, noting that inflation is rising much faster than that.
"In addition to many of us barely being able to survive yet working full-time here at Amazon, they’ve made the job more difficult," Willis said. "That 40-minute break we had during the pandemic, it’s now a 30-minute break. If you’re a picker, you’re now expected to pick at a rate of 350 items per hour, instead of 300."
The MQY1 union drive celebrated the JFK8 union win and reiterated its commitment to organizing as of 9/2.
RDU1: Amazon Fulfillment Center in Garner, North Carolina
A warehouse facility in Garner, North Carolina, RDU1, covers over two million square feet and employs more than 4,000 workers. A group of workers that calls itself Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or C.A.U.S.E, is trying to unionize the workforce in Garner for better pay and better working conditions, reports ABC 11.
As of early August, “the group is focused on gaining enough support for an election, which C.A.U.S.E. treasurer Tim Platt believes will arrive in 2023.”
New Observer reports:
C.A.U.S.E. has held routine flier events to connect with coworkers, using the face-to-face opportunities to share what they believe their union can deliver: higher pay, more generous sick leave, safer conditions and a voice at the collective bargaining table.”
In a state that’s hostile to labor, there are many obstacles to organizing. But C.A.U.S.E. sees a difference in the level of labor rights awareness in new hires.
ALB1: Amazon Fulfillment Center in Schodack, New York
A warehouse in Schodack, New York, ALB1, looks to follow the lead of the Staten Island location by unionizing the roughly 1,000 workers at the facility. The workers filed a petition in early August with the NLRB, seeking the 30% of pro-union votes needed to call for a final vote to establish the union, or not. Organizers at the facility report a company-cultivated climate of fear around the union effort. News 10 spoke to organizer Heather Goodall:
“The problem union organizers like Goodall face right now is many workers are afraid to speak up out of fear of losing their job; which Goodall says she fears every day over her efforts.
“Every single person in there should know they are safe to use what I call their ‘union voice’. You are entitled to fair wages, and safe working conditions, and you cannot be fired (for unionizing) so we want to make sure that every employee is aware that you can voice your concern, sign the cards, and participate without reprimanding.”
More than a psychological climate of fear, Amazon tried and failed to block the union election in court. The NLRB filing indicates the path is clear to unionize, provided the requisite votes are received.
SDF1: Amazon Fulfillment Center in Campbellsville, Kentucky
The union drive at SDF1 in Campbellsville, Kentucky has hit a roadblock, as lead organizer and warehouse picker Matt Littrell was fired in retaliation for unionizing activity, according to charges filed with the NLRB. Firing workers who stand up for their labor rights is illegal according to the National Labor Relations Act. Regardless, simply terminating employees who stand up for their rights is a favored method for controlling labor costs at companies that can afford to absorb the consequences as a cost of doing business.
In Kentucky and elsewhere, labor organizers face a double challenge to standing up for their rights.
First, union-busting companies that are fiercely protective of their existing leverage to ask a lot from workers who are paid only a little.
Second, the rates of union membership are at historically low points, which means it’s hard to gain organizing momentum when most people (especially in labor hostile states like Kentucky) are not familiar with their rights in the workplace or the historic benefits that organizing has produced for workers.
But if gains can be made at Amazon facilities like JFK8, then there is a path to a bigger voice for workers in any workplace.
Let us know what other organizing Amazon locations Hump Day News should be tracking in the comments.
Amazon suspends at least 50 workers at a Staten Island warehouse in retaliation for a union-organized work-stoppage.