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Amazon Labor Union says it has NLRB go-ahead for second NYC election

Amazon Labor Union says it has NLRB go-ahead for second NYC election

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LDJ5 would be the second Staten Island facility to hold an election

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Two other Amazon warehouses are involved in union elections.
Two other Amazon warehouses are involved in union elections.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon employees at the Staten Island LDJ5 warehouse have gotten the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) permission to continue with unionization efforts, according to the Amazon Labor Union, after the workers filed a petition to unionize in February. According to a screenshot posted by Vice reporter Lauren Kaori Gurley, Amazon has acknowledged the decision in a message sent to employees through its A to Z app.

The Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, has been working to unionize the facility for a while — in October it filed a petition to unionize Amazon’s facilities on Staten Island, but later refiled that petition to focus on a single warehouse, JFK8. Workers at JFK8 have since gotten approval to hold an election starting on March 25th. Kayla Blado, a spokesperson for the NLRB, confirmed toThe Verge that the union submitted a sufficient number of signed union cards to continue with the election process.

According to the NLRB, there will be a hearing if Amazon and the union can’t agree to terms for the election (including which employees would be part of the bargaining unit). If that hearing happens, a regional director for the NLRB will decide details for the election, like dates and how / where it’ll take place.

Amazon did not immediately reply to The Verge’s request for comment.

Amazon has previously been accused of anti-union actions in New York, with the NLRB alleging that it threatened, surveilled, and interrogated workers.

There are two other Amazon facilities involved in union elections. In addition to JFK8, Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama facility recently held its election redo, after the NLRB decided that Amazon had interfered with the first one. Election officials for the Bessemer union drive are scheduled to start counting votes on March 28th, according to NPR. In the original election, the vote was 1,798 to 738 in Amazon’s favor.

Update March 3, 12:26PM ET: Added information from the NLRB, confirming that the ALU has shown sufficient interest to proceed with the election process.