Amazon workers on Staten Island vote for union

Amazon workers on Staten Island voted to unionize on Friday, marking the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history and handing an unexpected win to an upstart group that fueled the union drive.

Warehouse workers cast 2,654 votes — or about 55% — in favor of a union, giving the fledgling Amazon Labor Union enough support to pull off a victory. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which is overseeing the process, 2,131 workers — or 45% — rejected the union.

The 67 ballots that were challenged by either side were not enough to sway the outcome. Federal labor officials said the results of the count won’t be verified until they process any objections, due by April 8.

The victory was an uphill battle for the independent group, made up of former and current workers who lacked official backing from an established union and were outgunned by the deep-pocketed retail giant. Organizers believed their grassroots approach was more relatable to workers and could help them overcome where established unions have failed. They were right.

Chris Smalls, a fired Amazon employee who has been leading the ALU in its fight on Staten Island, bounded out of the NLRB building in Brooklyn on Friday with other organizers, pumping their fists and jumping, chanting “ALU.” Smalls hailed the victory as a call to arms for other Amazon workers across the sprawling company.

“I hope that everybody’s paying attention now because a lot of people doubted us,” he said. 

Amazon posted a statement on its website Friday signaling it might not accept the Staten Island results.

“We’re evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election,” the statement said.

Amazon has long argued that workers don't need a union because the company provides good wages as well as benefits such as health care, 401(k) plans and a prepaid college tuition program.

The successful union effort on Staten Island stood in contrast to the one in Bessemer, Alabama, by the more established Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Friday, workers at the warehouse there appeared to have rejected a union bid but outstanding challenged ballots could change the outcome. The votes were 993-to-875 against the union.

But the ALU might still have a fight ahead of it, according to Erin Sutton, a sociology professor at the University at Buffalo in New York.

"Oftentimes the union will fizzle out because the company doesn’t come to the bargaining table in good faith as they’re obliged to do," he said.