Amazon Warehouse Workers Attempt to Reorganize Union After 6 Months

Chris Smalls, a former Amazon employee who is leading efforts to unionize the Amazon logistics warehouse in Staten Island, New York, is on a phone call.
Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Amazon warehouse workers are attempting to form a union again after six months.

Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, are pushing for union formation, and more than 2,000 employees have signed a petition to hold a vote on the matter, Bloomberg News reported on the 21st (local time), citing a representative from the Amazon union organizing committee.

The Amazon union organizing committee is expected to submit the petition with employees' signatures to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) soon. The NLRB requires at least 30% of employees' consent to approve holding a vote. There are about 7,000 employees across four warehouses in Staten Island.

In a statement released that day, the Amazon union organizing committee said, "We will fight for higher wages, job security, a stable working environment, and expanded paid leave, breaks, and sick leave."

The person leading the union formation is Chris Smalls, who was fired last year after leading protests at the Staten Island warehouse. Smalls worked at Amazon for about four and a half years before being dismissed. He protested against the company, claiming that Amazon did not implement sufficient quarantine measures, exposing warehouse workers to COVID-19 risks.

Smalls claims that Amazon fired him in retaliation, but Amazon counters that he was dismissed for violating safety regulations.

In this regard, in February of this year, Letitia James, New York State Attorney General, defended Smalls. At that time, Attorney General James filed charges against Amazon, arguing that Amazon failed to follow safety protocols and that Smalls should be reinstated.

Earlier, in April, warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, held a vote on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), a higher-level union, but about 71% of voters opposed, causing the union formation attempt to fail.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.