The Federal Employment Agency on Wednesday confirmed the independent union’s landmark victory at Amazon in Staten Island.
In April, a majority of the approximately 8,300 employees at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse, known as JFK8, voted to join the Amazon union, becoming the company’s first factory in the United States to be unionized. The Labor Relations Board of the Council, which oversaw the elections, intervened in union action. Amazon also claimed that the ALU intimidated employees into voting for them.
On Wednesday, the federal employment agency agreed with the earlier court decision and rejected all the objections that Amazon had brought to it.
american law
Under US labor law, employers are required to begin negotiations with the union as soon as the election results at the plant are approved.
In practice, this process is very often delayed, and employers try to clarify the details of contracts as long as possible. According to an analysis by Bloomberg Law, it takes an average of 465 days for employers and their new union workers to sign collective agreements.
Amazon is appealing the decision
Kelly Nantel, a spokesperson for Amazon, said in a statement that the company intends to appeal the results.
“As we’ve said from the beginning, we don’t believe this electoral process was fair, legal, or reflects much of what our team wants,” Nantel said.
ALU Interim President Chris Smalls tweeted that the union “beat Amazon Fair” and urged company management to “sit down at the negotiating table” and sign an agreement with the unions.
Source: Wprost
