(This article was published on March 20, 2024, and updated on March 21.)

By Argiris Malapanis and Mark Satinoff

In early March, the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) sent a letter — published below — reporting on plans to hold an election for union officers between June 1 and July 31. At the same time, a committee will be elected to draft a revised union constitution for consideration by ALU members. This is the result of a recent membership referendum.

The ALU Democratic Reform Caucus (ALUDRC) initiated the process that led to this result.

A March 4 statement by the ALUDRC, which appeared on X (formerly Twitter), said:

“The ALUDRC worker-organizers pushed tirelessly to get this referendum, as having democracy within our union is vital to ensure that we have a strong and militant workforce to take on Amazon. We need to put pressure on the company so that we may win a contract with the necessary workplace changes that we, as workers, want to see.

“Voting was concluded last week, from Tuesday, February 27^th, until Saturday, March 2^nd, outside the Staten Island JFK8 warehouse’s main entrance. The process was overseen by representatives from both the ALU’s current executive board and the ALU Democratic Reform Caucus, as well as an agreed upon, third party neutral moderator. ALUDRC members pushed and organized a needed YES vote, so that the ALU can have improved democratic measures, including being able to elect our own union leadership.

“We are happy to share that our efforts have paid off, as both referendum questions have received a majority YES vote! We could not be more thrilled with the outcome, for having a democratic, member-led union is vital to winning a strong contract from Amazon.”

From March 4, 2024, statement by the ALUDRC

The ALU was the first and only union to win a representation election at an Amazon facility in the United States to date. The vote at Amazon’s JFK8 giant fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York, took place two years ago, March 25-30, 2022. Among 8,325 eligible voters, nearly 5,000 ballots were cast. The ALU won by a margin of 523 votes, with nearly 55% of workers voting for the union.

Amazon, the second largest private company in the United States after Walmart, employs 1.6 million workers worldwide, the majority of them — 1.1 million — in 48 of the 50 U.S. states. The company is fiercely anti-union. So far it has refused to negotiate a contract at JFK8.

Amazon’s strategy has been to tie the union up in a drawn-out legal battle, draining it of valuable resources and hoping to demoralize workers through repeated delays. This has included firing union organizers and filing numerous objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to the 2022 union election.

After the NLRB Region 28 director ruled against those objections in a January 2023 decision and certified the ALU as the bargaining agent for JFK8 workers, Amazon indicated it will appeal the ruling. The company did file such an appeal with the NLRB in Washington, D.C. — where the case has languished for more than a year — and it has refused to recognize the ALU or bargain with the union for a contract.

Meanwhile on February 15, in a separate legal action, Amazon argued that the NLRB itself is unconstitutional.  “Amazon’s filing was part of a case before an administrative judge in which labor board prosecutors have accused Amazon of illegally retaliating against workers at a Staten Island warehouse known as JFK8, which unionized two years ago,” reported the New York Times. “The move followed a similar argument by SpaceX, the rocket company founded and run by Elon Musk, in a legal complaint in January, and by Trader Joe’s during a labor board hearing a few weeks later.”

Challenging the constitutionality of the NLRB gives Amazon one more pretext in its campaign to thwart and delay union organizing efforts.

Internal strife within the ALU has also set back the workers’ efforts to organize and force the company to negotiate a contract with better pay, improved benefits, and safer job conditions.

This led to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn by the Democratic Reform Caucus on July 10, 2023, to “reform ALU’s constitution and to hold an election for officers,” according to an ALUDRC press release at the time.

“ALU’s current executive board is entirely unelected and self-appointed,” the ALUDRC’s July 11, 2023, public statement said. “Not only do we feel this is unlawful and antidemocratic, it is also a major barrier to organizing workers in support of a contract fight, as democracy is a key element in engaging workers.”

Dozens of JFK8 workers formed the Democratic Reform Caucus, beginning in December 2022, in an attempt to democratize the union and push forward the effort to force Amazon to negotiate a contract.

“In order to do the kind of organizing necessary to take on Amazon and get a strong contract, democracy is key,” Connor Spence, a co-founder of the union and its former treasurer, said after the ALUDRC filed its suit last summer. “Rank-and-file workers need to be engaged, collaborating on strategy, surveying demands, and engaging in shop floor action. Most importantly, they need to have a say in who their leaders are.” Amazon fired Spence in December 2023 for his union activity, and the union is fighting for his reinstatement.

The recent referendum, in which JFK8 workers approved conducting a leadership election and an election of a constitution committee, was organized as a result of an out-of-court settlement of the ALUDRC’s lawsuit with the current ALU officers.

 “As Amazon continues to profit billions off the backs of its workers, we remain steadfast that the company negotiate a contract with its JFK8 workers,” said a January 5 press release by the Democratic Reform Caucus announcing the settlement. “This can only be accomplished through a worker-led and democratically organized movement.”

*

Brothers and Sisters,

We have officially concluded the vote count for last week’s internal referendum. The count was conducted by a neutral monitor. The referendum questions were as follows:

1. Should we, the members of Amazon Labor Union, conduct elections for our four officer roles (President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, and Recording Secretary) between June 1st and July 31st, 2024?

and

2. Should we, the members of Amazon Labor Union, conduct an election for a committee to propose an updated and amended union constitution between June 1st and July 31st, 2024?

A majority of JFK8 workers who participated voted YES in favor of both questions. As such, ALU will be moving forward with elections for union officers and constitution committee members in June or July. The framework for these elections, including the schedule and procedure for a nomination meeting, is still under review by a court appointed neutral monitor.

Approval of this framework is soon to come, and at that time all JFK8 workers and ALU members will be given immediate notice.

In Solidarity,

Amazon Labor Union

Become a Member of the ALU

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