Federal labor officials on Wednesday rejected Amazon’s attempt to reverse a union victory at a Staten Island warehouse, removing a major roadblock to contract negotiations between the union and the company.
Officials, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Commission, found evidence lacking to support Amazon’s claims of election fraud.
The decision was widely anticipated after labor commission hearing officers recommended in September that the company drop its objections. Amazon later said it would likely appeal the unfavorable decision, but did not immediately indicate whether it intended to do so on Wednesday.The appeal will be considered by the Labor Commission in Washington. .
In an interview at The New York Times DealBook conference in late November, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy indicated the company wouldn’t stop trying, saying the battle “isn’t over yet.” said.
“It’s very likely that it will go to federal court,” Jassy said.
Warehouse workers, known as JFK8, voted to join an independent Amazon union in an election whose results were announced in April. Over 8,000 employees were eligible to participate and the union won by about 10%.
A few weeks later, the union lost votes representing workers at a small Amazon warehouse, LDJ5, on Staten Island, and in October, another warehouse near Albany, New York.
Wednesday’s decision follows another adverse judgment against Amazon related to its activities at JFK8. In mid-November, a federal judge in New York issued an injunction asking the company to “stop and stop” firing workers for exercising workers’ rights. The judge also compelled company officials to read out her orders to a warehouse worker.
The case that led to the federal judge’s injunction dates back to the early days of the pandemic, when Amazon workers protested safety conditions outside JFK8 and were later fired.
The judge’s ruling essentially informed Amazon that it could not fire workers for protesting safety conditions or engaging in protected activities such as union organizing. , repeated the judge’s order to JFK8 workers during the first week of December.
