Amazon has been ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to recognize and bargain with the union at a warehouse on Staten Island, New York.<\/p>\n
The union there was originally known as the Amazon Labor Union, owing to the fact that when it was elected by the warehouse rank-and-file<\/a> to represent it in April 2022, it was a standalone union not tied to any larger organization. It has since aligned with the Teamsters.<\/a><\/p>\n But Amazon has steadfastly refused to bargain with the union, leading to the workers bringing a complaint before the NLRB.\u00a0<\/p>\n The vote at the agency is notable because it comes from a board that for many months had no quorum to do anything. But it has since reached the minimum level of three members, yet still sided with the union despite it being a 2-1 Republican-dominated board.<\/p>\n The NLRB\u2019s document <\/a>and recap of the events since the union was elected in 2022 note that the board\u2019s General Counsel and regional directors have consistently handed down dictums that Amazon be required to bargain with the union.<\/p>\n \u201c(Amazon) denies that it has unlawfully refused to bargain,\u201d the NLRB said in its document handing down the order against the company. \u201cRather, it asserts that it has no duty to bargain<\/p>\n and contests the validity of the certification of representative based on its contention that the union is not the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of any employee at its Fulfillment Center located on Staten Island.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That warehouse is known as JFK8. Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City.<\/p>\n Union said Amazon wouldn\u2019t bargain<\/p>\n In a recap of the back-and-forth between the NLRB and Amazon following the vote, the NLRB said the agency\u2019s regional director for the New York area in January 2023 certified the union as \u201cexclusive bargaining representative\u201d for the workers at JFK8. Two weeks later, according to the document, the union filed a charge with the agency that Amazon was refusing to bargain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat same day, the (NLRB) Region contacted (Amazon\u2019s) counsel and asked whether (it) was testing certification by refusing to bargain with the union,\u201d the NLRB said in its recap. \u201c(Amazon\u2019s) counsel confirmed that it was \u2018testing certification, and intend[ed] to file a request for review\u2019 of the Regional Director\u2019s Decision and Certification of Representative.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the NLRB, the union requested Amazon to begin bargaining on April 2, 2022. But since that date, the NLRB said, Amazon \u201chas failed and refused to recognize and bargain with the Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the unit.\u201d\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe find that (Amazon\u2019s) conduct constitutes an unlawful failure and refusal to recognize and bargain with the union,\u201d the NLRB said.<\/p>\n The agency ordered Amazon to \u201ccease and desist\u201d from failing to recognize the union, and to begin bargaining with the union \u201cas the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the employees.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazon will challenge<\/p>\n In a prepared statement, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)<\/a> said the NLRB certification of the election back in March 2022 \u201cis wrong on the facts and the law, and the truth is that both the (Amazon Labor Union) and representatives of the NLRB improperly influenced this election.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision is just part of the process of challenging the underlying certification,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cWe\u2019re confident an unbiased court will overturn the original certification, and we look forward to the opportunity for our team to fairly voice their opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n As of publication time, the Teamsters had not released a statement about the NLRB decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n They aren\u2019t related, but the NLRB decision came one day after news of an agreement between Amazon and the Teamsters<\/a> regarding financial penalties the company levies against workers who walk off the job as part of a unionization drive.<\/p>\n Spotty history of union success<\/p>\n The only other employees in the Amazon empire who have voted to unionize are at a Whole Foods outlet in Philadelphia. A closely-watched vote at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama failed in 2021.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Workers at Direct Service Providers (DSPs) who deliver packages are employed by the owners of the DSPs, though the Teamsters refers to them as \u201cAmazon Teamsters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of the workers at DSPs have used the signing of authorization cards\u2013also known as \u201ccard check\u201d\u2013to claim a unionization victory. But only one DSP recognized a union victory, Battle Tested Strategies in California, and it found itself out as a DSP soon after. (Amazon has said its dismissal was not related to the unionization vote and recognition. That dispute is now before the NLRB<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Since unionization efforts started among various Amazon or Amazon-related employees, the company has touted its pay levels and benefits. It says its average base wage is $23 per hour and total compensation package with benefits averages $30 per hour. It says it has reduced health care premiums and copays, and health care benefits begin on the first day of employment.<\/p>\n More articles by John Kingston<\/a><\/p>\n DEF sensors no longer required on trucks, other diesel equipment: EPA<\/a><\/p>\n ATA sought compensation in Rhode Island trucking tolls case; it got nothing<\/a><\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s new CDL rule pushes ahead on English profici<\/a>e<\/a>ncy\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amazon has been ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to recognize and bargain with the union at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[586,18958,3532,9,24,63,134,136,135,18961],"class_list":{"0":"post-183750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-amazon","9":"tag-amazon-labor-union","10":"tag-national-labor-relations-board","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-staten-island","15":"tag-staten-island-headlines","16":"tag-staten-island-news","17":"tag-teamsters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}