New York City warehouse workers who are part of the Amazon Labor Union overwhelmingly voted to align themselves with the Teamsters as they try to get a contract from the online retailer
New York City warehouse workers, part of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), have voted overwhelmingly to join forces with the Teamsters in their quest for a contract from the online retail giant.
The ALU members cast their votes with 98.3% in favour of the affiliation, which will provide them with additional resources in their bid to bring Amazon to the negotiating table, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday. “Together, with hard work, courage, and conviction, the Teamsters and ALU will fight fearlessly to ensure Amazon workers secure the good jobs and safe working conditions they deserve in a union contract,” stated Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien.
Amazon, who contested the 2022 election where the ALU won the right to represent workers at a Staten Island warehouse, has yet to respond to requests for comment. With the labour group’s members approving the affiliation deal, the ALU will essentially become an “autonomous” local union within the Teamsters, possessing the same rights and responsibilities as a standard chapter, acoording to a copy of the agreement viewed by AP news agency.
The newly chartered ALU-International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1 will represent the roughly 5,500 Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island. The local union, which will have jurisdiction over Amazon warehouse workers across New York’s five boroughs, is also expected to aid the Teamsters’ wider organising efforts at other Amazon facilities outside its jurisdiction.
The agreement stipulates that at least three representatives from the local union will partake in “executive planning and strategy discussions” with the Teamsters division that concentrates on organising Amazon workers. ALU President Chris Smalls expressed his pride in members for “choosing a path to victory.” “We’re now stronger than ever before,” Smalls declared.
John Logan, a labour history professor at San Francisco State University, described the partnership with an established union as a “lifeline” for the independent ALU, stating that the group is “going nowhere at the moment.” Logan added: “Doing it independently is just so difficult when you’re up against a company like (Amazon), which is big, wealthy and is determined to defeat the union.”
Despite the Amazon Labor Union’s 2022 victory in Staten Island being its only election win to date, the group remains the sole labour organisation to achieve this feat at an Amazon warehouse in the US partly due to opposition from the company and the vast size of many of its facilities. Despite the Amazon Labor Union’s (ALU) initial victory, it has been unable to secure a contract for over two years due to Amazon’s persistent appeals against the vote with the National Labor Relation Board.
The ALU has also faced other hurdles, including defeats in union elections at different Amazon facilities and internal disagreements regarding its approach to organising. A splinter faction, the ALU Democratic Reform Caucus, emerged from these disputes, taking legal action against the ALU last year to demand a leadership election. This election is slated for July, to be held outside the warehouse that opted for unionisation, according to Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer representing the dissident group.
Connor Spence, who is running for president under the Caucus, expressed his backing for an alliance with the Teamsters, stating that it “sends a powerful reminder to Amazon that we’re not giving up in our yearslong campaign for respect, better wages, and safe jobs.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, established in 1903, boasts a membership of 1.3 million across the U.S, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Sean O’Brien, the union’s dynamic leader elected in 2021, campaigned on a promise to ramp up efforts to organise Amazon workers. He has pointed out that the union’s successes, such as the collective bargaining agreement achieved with UPS last year, will bolster the push to unionise Amazon employees.
The Teamsters have been striving to unionise Amazon’s driving workforce, but this effort hasn’t resulted in any significant victories acknowledged by the company. In April, workers at a large Amazon Air Hub in Kentucky chose to affiliate with the union during their own organising campaign.
San Francisco State’s Logan believes that the Teamsters’ affiliation with the ALU was a clever move, as they need to consider fresh approaches to organise at Amazon. He suggests that successful union elections at the company will necessitate grassroots campaigns similar to the one that led to the ALU’s triumph, rather than the conventional top-down campaigns often used by many unions.
