Employees working at a warehouse of leading e-commerce company Amazon Inc. (AMZN) in New York have voted in favor of forming the first ever union at the online retailer. This development comes as a breakthrough to labor activists who have been pushing for such initiatives into new industries.
Citing data released by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the workers at an Amazon’s online fulfillment center in the borough of Staten Island, known as JFK8 voted 2,654 to 2,131 in support of Amazon Labor Union (ALU). This roughly translates to 55% of the total votes casted.
Indeed, this outcome comes as a great milestone to for organized labor and labor advocates in the United States who over the years have been terming Amazon’s labor practices as a threat to workers. This outcome did not sit well with Amazon as the company expressed its disappointment by the decision with the outcome.
“We’re disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees,” said Amazon.
Amazon further added that it’s contemplating the option it has including filing objections based on based on what it termed as inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB.
In response to Amazon’s statement, a spokesperson from NLRB said that they are an independent federal agency and their actions have been in line with the mandate placed upon by the congress.
