Christian Smalls, who started a labor union after being fired by Amazon.com Inc., was on track to potentially win a historic election to unionize one of the e-commerce giant’s facilities in New York.
When federal labor officials overseeing the election halted the count on Thursday, Smalls’ upstart Amazon Labor Union had 1,518 yes votes compared with 1,154 no votes from workers at a warehouse in Staten Island. The final tally could come as early as Friday.
In Bessemer, Alabama, meanwhile, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union trailed in its efforts to unionize an Amazon warehouse but produced a much stronger showing than last year, when it lost by a 2-1 margin. Amazon was leading with 993 votes versus 875 for the union, but with 416 disputed ballots needing a lengthy review, the race was too close to call.
If the ALU’s lead holds, the outcome would mark a watershed moment for Amazon. The Seattle-based company has managed to keep unions out of its U.S. operations for more than a quarter-century and would have to start contract negotiations that potentially could hamper its ability to adjust work requirements and scheduling on the fly.
Smalls, 33, started the ALU with little help from organized labor and limited funds. To win hearts and minds, he employed unconventional tactics -- tweeting photos of Amazon consultants he deemed “union-busters,” encouraging employees to disrupt the company’s anti-union meetings inside the warehouse and handing out literature in the...
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