A second Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York will vote on whether to form a union, reported CNBC. The outcome of the vote, scheduled to begin on April 25th and last until May 2nd, will decide whether employees at the LDJ5 facility join the Amazon Labor Union, an independent, worker-led movement formed last year in Staten Island. Roughly a mile away, another Staten Island Amazon warehouse (known as JFK8) is set to hold its own union election next week.
Both elections are the latest development in a battle with Amazon on one side, unions and Amazon warehouse workers on the other side, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) serving as the referee. NLRB ordered a re-run of a union election held at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama after determining that the tech giant illegally interfered in the vote. Votes for that election are scheduled to be counted on March 28th.
Earlier this week, NLRB sued Amazon over the termination of Gerald Bryson, an employee of the JFK8 facility, who the agency believes was fired in retaliation for his activism. According to a tweet by ALU, Bryson’s employment at Amazon appears to have been reinstated after a federal judge complied with NLRB’s request to issue an injunction.
Staten Island workers have accused Amazon of union-busting and actively targeting workers involved in the union. Last month the NYPD arrested three labor organizers at the JFK8 facility — including ALU president Chris Smalls — after an Amazon manager complained that they were trespassing, reported The Daily Beast.