Wahab Khan 
Amazon workers will head to the polls since labor activists are trying to push for another victory in New York after their surprising success over the tech company. The KDJ5 Amazon sorting center in New York witnessed 1500 eligible workers voting in a union election on 24 April 2022. It is a process to continue till Thursday, whereas ballot counting will start on 2 May.
Amazon has reportedly shown aggressive opposition against unionization among its 1.1 million employees in the United States alone. The latest incidence comes to the headlines as workforces at other leading firms, including Starbucks, are emerging to unionize. The giant eCommerce company has invested millions in hiring union avoidance professionals. Amazon Labor Union organizers have reportedly accused management of harassing and intimidating the workers.
Amazon has decided to contest its first loss. Â It has accused Amazon Labor Union of using coercive, ambiguous, and offensive behavior to persuade workers to support them. According to filings, the company also claims authorities should consider the vote overturned since ALU deliberately constructed intimidating quarrels and provided workers with marijuana as a forbidden grant of support for workers’ votes.
The Amazon sorting center is across the road from the JFK8 warehouse in New York. It is where workers surprisingly succeeded in the first momentous union election at Amazon in the United States on 1 April 2022. ALU has filed a petition for the second union election. Led by Chris Smalls, a former Amazon employee, it is an independent group of former and current Amazon workers who do not have affliction with established labor unions.
Followed by the victory in the first election, Amazon Labor Union has received several inquiries from employees at numerous Amazon facilities around the country. They also received many queries from international Amazon workers about making unions at their respective branches. ALU obtained donations worth $300,000 through its official GoFundMe page.
Amazon Labor Union organized a rally ahead of the election. It featured speeches from union leaders, such as the President of the American Postal Workers Union, Mark Dimondstein, and the resident of the AFA-CWA, Sara nelson. Senator Bernie Sanders also addressed the ALU rally to motivate the workers.
According to Amazon Labor Union organizers, they faced the same anti-union efforts by the company while working at LDJ5. They consulted the National Labor Relations Board to have filed various unfair labor practice charges.
Seth Goldstein is a pro bono lawyer who represents the Amazon Labor Union says Amazon has been involved in continued illegal union-busting. This employer has breached the National Labor Relations Act by pushing workers to attend captive audience meetings and keeping the union from showcasing its poster in the break rooms. Amazon also prohibited discipline organizers from performing protected union activities.
ALU has recently joined the New York State Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.
They filed a complaint with the attorney general of the New York state, Letitia James, to file a complaint against Amazon. The union alleged that Amazon has been making anti-union efforts, violating the provisions of Excelsior Jobs Programs of the New York state. ALU pushed the company to reimburse $400 in taxation break they obtained through the above-said program.
