London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Amazon union fight continues despite workers' win

Amazon union fight continues despite workers' win

It has been almost a year since workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York voted to start the company's first-ever labour union in the US - an historic labour victory that won global attention. But the fight remains unfinished.

Amazon has been battling the outcome of the election in legal actions.

Efforts to organise workers at other warehouses, including one just across the street, have failed.

Negotiations with the company over a labour contract for the warehouse workers have yet to start - and, when they do, are expected to take years.

Former Amazon worker Chris Smalls, who started the union after the company fired him during the pandemic, takes the lack of progress in his stride.

"We know we're dealing with a trillion dollar company that is going to spend X amount of dollars to try to stop a union from taking place so the timing is just about what we expected," he says.

Earlier this month, regulators finally certified the victory of the Amazon Labor Union at JFK8, the warehouse on Staten Island that employs roughly 8,000 people.

Amazon, which has argued that regulators unfairly tilted the result of the election against the company, plans to appeal. This week the deadline it was facing was extended two more weeks.

"We knew it was unlikely that the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) regional office would rule against itself, and intend to appeal," spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said.

"As we've said since the beginning, we don't believe this election process was fair, legitimate, or representative of the majority of what our team wants."

Amazon Labor Union leaders Derrick Palmer (left) and Chris Smalls

The state of play is indicative of the ongoing questions about the future of America's labour movement.

Despite an uptick in organising activity, the share of workers who are members of unions has continued its decades-long decline, falling to 10.1% last year, from 10.3% in 2021.

That is the lowest rate on record and roughly half what it was when the government started tracking the figures in 1983.

But there are some signs that labour organisers have made inroads.

More than 70% of Americans now support labour unions - the highest share since 1965, according to a 2022 Gallup poll.

Petitions from workers to start unions at their workplaces jumped 53% in the 12 months to October, to more than 2,510 - the highest number since 2016, the NLRB said.

And in the private sector, the number of workers who are members of unions actually increased by nearly 200,000 last year - the first rise in nearly a decade, driven by gains in sectors including transportation and warehousing.

Those gains did not keep pace with the overall growth of the workforce though, which expanded at a rapid clip last year.

Cathy Creighton, director of Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab and former field attorney for the NLRB, says US law favours employers, making it unlikely that the activity will result in long-term gains for the labour movement.

The law does not even have a mechanism to force companies to agree a contract with workers, she says.

"I'm not saying there's not a movement afoot, but the question is: how will it go in the long run?" she says.

"Corporate America is fighting back hard and the government is not on the workers' side at this point, unless the American people realise what's happening, realise the barrier and ask their elected officials to change the law."

She says companies often successfully sap momentum from labour movements simply by running down the clock.

In this case, it has been nearly three years since Mr Smalls worked for Amazon, and the celebrity status he has since acquired has sparked accusations that he has become disconnected from work issues. Derrick Palmer, another top leader at Amazon Labor Union, has been suspended from work since late last year while the company investigates a worker dispute.

Mr Smalls rejects suggestions that Amazon's waiting game will succeed, pointing to new union campaigns in Minnesota and California. He is also due to visit the UK this week, where workers are planning their first-ever walkout.

"Their plan is to stall as long as they can but we're going to be creative on our end as well. That's what's gotten us here," he says.

"We don't want nothing else but a contract and we're not going to stop organising or stop fighting until we get it," he adds. "If the company's really a good company, then it's time to come to the table and negotiate."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×