Kayla Blado, press secretary of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), confirmed to The Verge that Amazon warehouse workers on Staten Island, New York, have resubmitted a union application to the agency. Workers also went on a "lunchtime strike" to try to get Amazon to recognize the union, according to CNBC.
The Amazon Union (ALU) has been organizing unions at four warehouse locations on Staten Island. It initially filed a union election application on Oct. 25 and collected support signatures from more than 2,000 employees. However, after determining the group needed more signatures, it later withdrew the petition, according to Bloomberg. U.S. law requires union organizers to be supported by at least 30 percent of workers — and the four warehouses employ a total of about 5,500 workers, according to Bloomberg. The New York Times reported that organizers were focusing on a single warehouse, the JFK8 warehouse, this time to try to gain the support of enough people, despite the high attrition rate of these workers.
Blado told The Verge that the ALU had completed the submission of the petition. Now, the NLRB will need to review the letter of intent to see if the organization has collected enough signatures representing existing employees to initiate union elections. In addition to resubmitting the petition, Wednesday's strike was to "protest Amazon's unfair labor practices," which the group said included "illegal interference in union organizing activities." In light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the ALU is also demanding the return of hazard pay and unrestricted unpaid leave.
Former Amazon employee Christian Smalls, who led the ALU, was fired by the company after organizing a strike to protest unsafe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. If the NLRB gives the ALU a green light for the petition, it will lead to a second union movement for Amazon workers in 2021. In April, Amazon employees in Besemar, Alabama, voted against forming a union, but the NLRB has since ordered a second vote because it believed there might have been some interference from Amazon in the initial vote.
Amazon did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.