Amazon workers in New York just announced their plan to unionize
“We are not robots, we are human beings.”
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Amazon warehouse workers in New York City are trying to unionize — a development the $800 billion company has tried to prevent for years.
On Wednesday, a group of employees from the company’s warehouse in Staten Island announced the plan along with organizers from the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. That union is also working with employees at Whole Foods, a grocery chain now owned by Amazon.
The union push, which was first reported by Bloomberg, centers on a simple proposal: If the city and state are giving Amazon a $3 billion tax break to build a regional headquarters nearby, then the company should use some of that money to pay higher wages to warehouse workers and improve their working conditions. And, the organizers say, a negotiated labor contract is the only way to get the company to do so.
If a majority of the Staten Island workers agree, they will be the first Amazon employees in the United States to join a labor union — a move the company has long tried to discourage.
At a press conference outside New York City Hall Wednesday morning, employees from the company’s Staten Island location shared a long list of complaints. Rashad Long, who started working there in October, said managers force employees to work 12-hour shifts five or six days in a row.
“It takes me four hours every day to get to and from work. Between my work schedule and my commute, I haven’t seen my daughter in weeks,” Long said in his statement, which one of his colleagues read during the conference.
Long’s co-workers nodded as he described feeling unsafe at work — he specifically mentioned that the warehouse’s sprinkler system and smoke detectors are broken.
But his most disheartening complaint suggests that employees feel less valued than the robots nearby.
“The third and fourth floors are so hot that I sweat through my shirts even when it’s freezing cold outside,” Long said. “We have asked the company to provide air conditioning, but the company told us that the robots inside cannot work in the cold weather.”
A spokesperson for Amazon said the company respects employees’ right to choose whether to join a labor union.
“Amazon maintains an open-door policy that encourages employees to bring their comments, questions, and concerns directly to their management team for discussion and resolution,” Rachael Lighty, a spokesperson for Amazon, said in a statement to Vox. “We firmly believe this direct connection is the most effective way to understand and respond to the needs of our workforce.”
Lighty also disputed the employees’ complaints. She said the Staten Island warehouse has a fire director on site to make sure the sprinkler system and smoke detectors are working as required by law, and that employees are not allowed to work more than 60 hours a week. She added that the warehouse temperatures are regularly monitored to make sure they remain around 73 degrees Fahrenheit, and that Amazon offers employees the option to enroll in a state-run ride-sharing service called 511NY RideShare.
The move to unionize comes at a tense moment for Amazon. The company is facing heated criticism for its decision to open regional offices in New York City and suburban Washington, DC — a decision that was made with no public input and that will cost local taxpayers billions of dollars in subsidies.
But the online retailer is also dealing with serious complaints from employees, who describe harrowing work conditions and low pay at Amazon’s warehouses in the United States and across the world. In July, Amazon workers in Europe went on strike to protest what they described as hot, windowless, soul-crushing work environments.
In November, on Black Friday, workers at Amazon warehouses workers in Spain, Germany, and France organized strikes, and protests were held in Italy and the United Kingdom. Workers in the US are getting restless too.
Amazon is not a fan of unions
The union drive in New York will certainly intensify the ongoing labor disputes at Amazon. The company has fought past unionization efforts in Europe and has quashed past efforts in the United States.
But general worker unrest has been growing in recent months, reflecting widespread frustration that wages have barely kept up with inflation, even as the economy grows and businesses report strong profits.
Amazon workers say that forming a union is the only way to get the company to change its ways. Talking to managers has not worked so far, Long said.
“During our new hire orientation, management promised they would provide us a shuttle service and ride shares to get us to and from the warehouse, which is located in a remote area of the island,” he explained in the statement shared during Wednesday’s press conference. “This has not happened. Instead, we all have to rely on an overcrowded MTA select bus service.”
Amazon and Whole Foods employees need to take a few more steps before they can officially form a union, though. A majority of employees in their workplaces need to sign union membership cards, to show their support for collective bargaining. If that happens, the company can voluntarily recognize the union.
If the company doesn’t want to recognize the union, then workers will have to hold an official unionization vote through the National Labor Relations Board, an independent federal agency that enforces US labor laws and collective bargaining rights. If a majority of employees vote in favor of unionizing, then Amazon is legally required to recognize the union.
Then, finally, they can begin to negotiate a labor contract.
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