NY Amazon Workers Withdraw Petition To Unionize

The National Labor Relations Board has confirmed that a group of Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York has withdrawn its petition to hold a vote to unionize, Anne D’Innocenzio reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: An Amazon Books branch in New York

The move comes less than two weeks before the labor board was expected to hold a hearing to determine whether there was sufficient interest to form a union at the Amazon distribution center.

NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado declined to elaborate the reason for the pullback. But she noted workers can refile a petition. Union organizers had said in late October that it delivered more than 2,000 signed union-support cards to the NLRB’s Brooklyn office after launching the effort in April.

That’s a major step in authorizing a vote that could set up the first union at the nation’s largest online retailer.

As part of its petition to hold a vote, organizers must submit signatures from at least 30% of the roughly 5,500 employees who the union says work at four adjoining Amazon facilities that it seeks to represent under collective bargaining.

This is the second unionizing attempt in the past year at Amazon. Workers in Alabama resoundingly defeated an attempt earlier this year, but organizers there are asking federal officials for a do-over.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is leading the effort in Alabama.

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