London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

Amazon fights to overturn union’s historic win at New York warehouse

Amazon fights to overturn union’s historic win at New York warehouse

Tech giant wants to redo election, arguing in legal filing that National Labor Relations Board acted in way that tainted results
Amazon is seeking to overturn a historic union victory at a New York City warehouse, arguing in a legal filing union organizers and the National Labor Relations Board acted in a way that tainted the results.

The e-commerce giant wants to redo the election.

Amazon listed 25 objections in the filing on Friday, accusing the Amazon Labor Union of intimidating workers to vote for the union, a claim an attorney representing the group called “patently absurd”.

“The employees have spoken,” Eric Milner, the attorney, said in a statement after Amazon’s initial planned objections were made public in another legal filing.

“Amazon is choosing to ignore that, and instead engage in stalling tactics to avoid the inevitable – coming to the bargaining table and negotiating for a contract” on behalf of the workers, he said.

Warehouse workers in Staten Island cast 2,654 votes – or about 55% – in favor of a union, enough support to pull off a victory last week.

In one objection, Amazon said organizers “intentionally created hostile confrontations in front of eligible voters” by interrupting the mandatory meetings it held to persuade its employees to reject the union drive.

In a filing last week, the company disclosed it spent about $4.2m last year on labor consultants.

In another objection, Amazon targeted organizers’ distribution of cannabis to workers, saying the labor board “cannot condone such a practice as a legitimate method of obtaining support for a labor organization”.

New York legalized the recreational use of marijuana last year for those over 21. Milner, the attorney representing the union, said Amazon is grasping at straws.

Distributing cannabis “is no different than distributing free T-shirts and it certainly did not act to interfere with the election”, he said.

The company also accused organizers of improperly polling workers.

The retailer had signaled it planned to challenge the election results because of a lawsuit the NLRB filed in March in which the board sought to force Amazon to reinstate a fired employee who was involved in the union drive.

The company pointed to the lawsuit in one of its objections filed on Friday, saying the regional NLRB office that brought the suit “failed to protect the integrity and neutrality of its procedures” and had created an impression of support for the union by seeking reinstatement for the former employee, Gerald Bryson.

“Based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, as set out in our objections, we believe that the actions of the NLRB and the ALU improperly suppressed and influenced the vote, and we think the election should be conducted again so that a fair and broadly representative vote can be had,“ Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement.

Bryson was fired in the early days of the pandemic after leading a protest calling for the company to do more to protect workers against Covid-19. While off the job during the protest, Bryson got into a dispute with another worker and was later fired for violating Amazon’s vulgar-language policy, according to his attorney, Frank Kearl.

The NLRB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its spokesperson, Kayla Blado, has said the independent agency has been authorized by Congress to enforce the National Labor Relations Act.

“All NLRB enforcement actions against Amazon have been consistent with that congressional mandate,” she said.

In other objections, Amazon targeted how the labor agency conducted the election. It said the agency failed to control media presence around the voting area and didn’t have enough staff and equipment, which the company says created long lines and “discouraged many employees from voting in subsequent polling sessions”.

Both Amazon and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), a union that spearheaded a separate union drive in Bessemer, Alabama, have filed objections to that election.

The final outcome in Alabama is still up in the air with 416 outstanding challenged ballots hanging in the balance. Initial results show the union down by 118 votes, with the majority of Amazon warehouse workers rejecting a bid to form unionize.

RWDSU, which filed more than 20 objections, said in its filing Thursday that its objections are “grounds to set the election aside”.

A hearing to review the challenged ballots is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×