Amazon warehouse union vote fails in upstate New York
Amazon workers in upstate New York voted by a roughly 2-to-1 ratio against unionizing, according to results tallied on Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board.
The vote is a setback for the Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, a small independent union that in April won a historic vote in Staten Island, New York, to form the first-ever collective bargaining unit one of the retailer's U.S. warehouses.
Of the more than 900 workers eligible to cast ballots at this week's election at the Amazon warehouse in Castleton-on-the-Hudson, New York, known as ALB1, 406 voted against joining and 206 voted for joining the union. Thirty-one ballots were challenged and four voided.
The union had called for increased wages and safer working conditions at the facility, where starting pay was recently hiked to $17 an hour from $15.70.
Christian Smalls, founder of ALU, vowed to continue the unionizing efforts, despite Tuesday's outcome.
"Proud of the brave workers of ALBI regardless of today's results taking on a trillion dollar company can never be a loss for workers," he tweeted.
Amazon applauded the vote outcome.
"We're glad that our team in Albany was able to have their voices heard and that they chose to keep the direct relationship with Amazon, as we think that this is the best arrangement for both our employees and customers. We will continue to work directly with our teammates in Albany, as we do everywhere, to keep making Amazon better every day," a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch in a statement.
The ALU last week also filed for an election at an Amazon facility in Moreno Valley, California, it's first foray on the West Coast.
In Staten Island, union officials have not succeeded in getting Amazon to the bargaining table, with the company appealing the result of the early April vote to unionize. A month after that initial win, the union lost another election at a separate Amazon warehouse in Staten Island. Another union vote at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, is snarled in legal proceedings, with the results not yet determined.
