Over 98% of Amazon Labor Union members voted in favor of affiliating with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the organization said Tuesday.
Collaborating will enable Amazon’s union workers to leverage the Teamsters’ representation and resources as the retail giant’s employees seek to organize nationwide and secure union job contracts and improved working conditions.
ALU-International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1 will represent about 5,500 people at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York. The entity will have jurisdiction over Amazon warehouse workers across New York City’s five boroughs.
“The ratification vote by our members is a historic moment — and it sends a powerful reminder to Amazon that we're not giving up in our yearslong campaign for respect, better wages, and safe jobs," Connor Spence of the ALU Democratic Reform Caucus said in Tuesday’s announcement. "Affiliating with the Teamsters and chartering a strong, autonomous local union signals a new chapter for so many working people and for this industry.”
The Teamsters and the ALU said Amazon tried to derail the latest round of organizing by “flooding its warehouses with managers” who pressured workers to vote no. The unions also claimed Amazon threatened employees for overseeing ballot boxes and called the police when workers were being informed of their rights. Amazon did not immediately respond to Retail Dive’s request to comment on those allegations or the new ALU-Teamsters affiliation.
“Having the support of 1.3 million Teamsters to take on Amazon gives us tremendous worker power and the opportunities to demand better conditions for our members and, most importantly, to secure a contract at JFK8,” ALU President Chris Smalls said in a statement.
In December, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Amazon and consultants it employed broke federal law by retaliating against union-organizing activities in 2021 at the JFK8 fulfillment center and a nearby Amazon delivery station. The NLRB said the company retaliated against union organizing by sending employees home early, changing their work assignments and subjecting them to closer supervision.
Amazon was one of the largest private employers in the U.S. from 2021 through 2023 with over 1 million workers. The company faced 445 unfair labor practice claims, the company said in a May proxy statement. As of March, one of those filings led to a final NLRB order. Amazon said in May it plans to appeal that case.
