周二,纽约奥尔巴尼一家仓库的亚马逊工人以压倒性多数投票反对成立工会。
工会的失败标志着亚马逊工会(Amazon Labor Union,简称ALU)在美国亚马逊工厂连续第二次失败,这是工人领导的劳工组织,4月份在纽约市亚马逊仓库取得了有史以来的第一次胜利。
这一结果对持续多年的劳工运动是一个打击,这场运动导致工会运动和工人抗议全国范围内的亚马逊仓库。
在奥尔巴尼的工会选举中,406名工人投票反对工会化,206名工人投票赞成,一名国家劳工关系委员会官员在计票后说。
美国劳工联合会在周一的一份声明中表示,该联合会对亚马逊在劳工运动过程中的非法行为提出了27项指控,包括违反商定的选举规则,威胁解雇计划担任选举观察员的工人。
奥尔巴尼仓库的工人莎拉·肖德利(Sarah Chaudry)在一份声明中告诉美国广播公司新闻部(ABC News),“尽管有所有破坏工会和不公平的劳工行为,但我们认识到,工会选举只是长期斗争中的一步。”。
“我将继续为我的同事争取权利,直到我们在ALB1成立工会,直到所有亚马逊工人都获得了加入工会的权利。"
亚马逊没有立即回应置评请求。在7月份给ABC新闻的一份声明中,该公司表达了对工会运动的普遍反对。
“我们的员工可以选择是否加入工会。他们总是这样,”亚马逊发言人凯利·南特尔说。“作为一家公司,我们不认为工会是我们员工的最佳选择。我们的重点仍然是直接与我们的团队合作,继续让亚马逊成为一个很好的工作场所。”
据安说,奥尔巴尼工厂有大约950名工人有资格投票,在纽约州近30个亚马逊仓库中受伤率最高分析左倾的国家就业法项目在5月公布的政府数据。
NELP报告发现,在2020年至2021年期间,该仓库每100名工人中有22人受伤。
Amazon Labor Union President, Chris Smalls speaks to Amazon workers at a rally, Oct. 10, 2022, in Castleton-On-Hudson, 15 miles south of Albany, N.Y.
雷切尔·普瓦/美联社
ALU是一个独立的工会,最初由GoFundMe页面上的筹款推动,在亚马逊位于斯塔滕岛的6000名员工的仓库开展了长达一个月的组织活动,这被证明是美国近几十年来最重要的劳工胜利之一。
工会获胜后,亚马逊向全国劳工关系委员会提出异议,寻求推翻这一结果,包括指控NLRB官员对工人表现出有利的偏见,以及工会领导人贿赂同事以赢得他们的支持。
9月,国家劳动关系委员会的听证官员建议投票应该有效。最终裁决还没有宣布。
奥尔巴尼的工会选举标志着今年ALU在亚马逊仓库的第三次工会投票。今年5月,美国劳工联合会在斯塔滕岛的一个仓库里输掉了一场工会选举。
Amazon warehouse workers vote against union, a setback for US labor campaign
Amazon workers at a warehouse in Albany, New York, voted overwhelmingly against unionization on Tuesday.
The union loss marks a second consecutive defeat at a U.S. Amazon facility for the Amazon Labor Union, or ALU, the worker-led labor organization behind the historic first-ever victory at an Amazon warehouse in New York City in April.
The result delivers a blow for the yearslong labor campaign that has brought union drives and worker protests to Amazon warehouses nationwide.
In the union election in Albany, 406 workers voted against unionization and 206 workers voted for it, a National Labor Relations Board official said after the vote count.
ALU has filed 27 charges of illegal conduct undertaken by Amazon over the course of the labor campaign, including the violation of agreed-to election rules with threats to fire workers who planned to serve as election observers, the union said in a statement on Monday.
“Despite all the union-busting and unfair labor practices, we recognize that a union election is just one step in a much longer struggle,” Sarah Chaudry, a worker at the warehouse in Albany, also known as ALB1, told ABC News in a statement.
“I will continue to fight for my fellow workers' rights until we have our union at ALB1 and until all Amazon workers secure their right to a union."
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to ABC News in July, the company expressed its general opposition to union campaigns.
"Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said. "As a company, we don't think unions are the best answer for our employees. Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work."
The Albany facility, where about 950 workers were eligible to vote, has the highest injury rate of almost 30 Amazon warehouses in New York state, according to ananalysisof government data published in May by the left-leaning National Employment Law Project.
The warehouse experienced about 22 injuries per 100 workers between 2020 and 2021, the NELP report found.
ALU, an independent union initially fueled by fundraising on a GoFundMe page, carried out a monthslong organizing campaign at Amazon’s 6,000-employee warehouse on Staten Island that proved to be one of the most significant labor victories in the U.S. in recent decades.
After the union victory, Amazon filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to overturn the outcome, including allegations that NLRB officials showed a favorable bias toward the workers and that union leaders bribed colleagues in an effort to win their support.
In September, a hearing officer for the National Labor Relations Board recommended that the vote should stand. A final ruling has not been handed down.
The union election in Albany marked the third union vote at an Amazon warehouse for the ALU this year. In May, the ALU lost a union election at a warehouse on Staten Island.