li.e. New York ⋅ A few weeks after a historic triumph, the American trade union movement had to accept a setback: Employees of a distribution center of the online retailer Amazon.com in New York voted with a clear majority against the establishment of a formal employee representation. In early April, workers at a nearby warehouse voted to join a union. This is the company’s first and its creation is considered a major achievement for the American labor movement, given that Amazon is the second largest employer in the country behind Walmart. The online retailer has vehemently opposed unions, arguing time and again that it prefers a “direct” relationship with its employees, i.e. without formal employee representation in between. He has also resorted to controversial tactics, such as forcing employees to attend events where the disadvantages of unions were discussed. He also filed a complaint against the election results in the first camp in New York, so the last word has not yet been spoken here.
The outcome of the most recent election is slowing momentum on the part of the trade unions for the time being. Observers explain the result, among other things, that in the distribution center, compared to the other New York location, a larger part of the workforce works part-time and therefore perhaps saw less urgency to change something about the status quo. Basically, the starting position for the organizers of the vote was not bad, because New York is considered a union-friendly place. A few weeks ago there was also a vote in a camp in the southern US state of Alabama, where unions usually have a much harder time. Amazon seems to have narrowly prevailed here, but a number of votes are still being disputed, so the result is not yet final.
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