Emboldened by the recent results of the nearby JFK8 fulfillment center, workers at Staten Island’s LDJ5 sort center are set to hold their own vote this coming Monday, April 25th. Voting will continue through Friday the 29th, with vote counting set to begin on May 2 — almost exactly a month after April’s historic results.
Votes will be cast via secret ballot inside a tent, with monitoring by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB ). Following a 2,654 to 2,131 union victory in the JFK8 vote, Amazon openly accused the NLRB of putting its thumb on the scale. The company told TechCrunch,
“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. 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.”
Today also marks the deadline for filing an official complaint for that election, though the company tells TechCrunch it has nothing new to report on that front. Amazon has been extremely aggressive in its attempts to stomp out any labor organizing after years of reports around working conditions. The retail is no doubt wary of a domino effect similar to what Starbucks is currently experiencing. It’s clear, however, that a first excited labor organizers.
Meanwhile, a re-vote in Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse is awaiting a hearing to review contested ballots. The “no” votes are currently leading by a healthy margin, though there are theoretically enough additional ballots to close that gap.
A number of high-profile politicians are expected to visit LDJ5 over the weekend to help rally labor efforts, including both Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.