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The employees of an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, United States, culminated this Friday a voting process to decide whether or not to form a union. Meanwhile, workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York, also began to cast their votes. The elections take place after a vote last year was invalidated due to irregularities.
This Friday, March 25, the employees of an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, United States, finished the voting process to decide whether or not to form a union. The count will begin next Monday, and the results are expected to be revealed no later than April.
The workers had a period of seven weeks to send their ballots by mail since, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no possibility of voting in person.
For their part, the Amazon employees of the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island began to cast their votes this Friday in person. Voting will run until March 30 and the vote count is scheduled to take place from March 31.
Workers at the company’s other Staten Island warehouse, LDJ5, will vote starting April 25, according to an election notice from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the government entity that must ensure that companies develop fair labor practices.
This comes after last year’s vote was invalidated, after the NLRB found that Amazon had interfered in the election, in which the option to rule out forming a union won two to one against creating one.
If history changes, it would be the first union victory in the company’s 28-year history.
Different views among Amazon workers
The vote has generated divided opinions among the workers themselves.
Geebah Sando, a package sorter who has worked at JFK8 for more than two years, said he would vote for the union because a unionized workplace could mean “higher wages and more benefits, including longer breaks.” and more paid time off.
An opposing case is that of Keisha Renaud, an associate from East Orange, New Jersey, who will vote against. “The energy that they’re taking to start a union, why didn’t they take that energy to start a team to talk to managers. I think Amazon would listen,” he said, adding that he “would leave the facility if (Amazon) unionizes.” .
On the other hand, there are workers who, while open to unionization, are concerned about the Amazon union’s ability to advocate on their behalf. Claudia Rodríguez, who has worked at JFK8 for four years, assured that “the union does not have any experience”, for which she assures that she has not yet defined her vote.
Repetition of last year’s failed campaign
After a first vote held in March 2021, the NLRB agreed with the employees that Amazon had improperly interfered in the original race and authorized a second election last November at the Amazon warehouse in Alabama.
The digital commerce company is the second largest private employer in the United States, behind Walmart supermarkets. Since the start of the pandemic, both its activity and profits have skyrocketed and it has hired tens of thousands of new workers.
However, the company, which was founded by Jeff Bezos, who is considered the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine, has not had a union of workers until now at the national level. In addition, it is known for its staunch opposition to its employees organizing.
In the event that the majority of workers vote in favor of the unions, Amazon would follow in the footsteps of the Starbucks chain. Last December, the employees of a coffee shop of this chain in New York voted in favor of the creation of the first union in its 50-year history.
With EFE and Reuters
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