On October 25, 2021, Amazon employees arrived at the National Labor Relations Board offices in Brooklyn, New York, with documents to join the union.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Amazon’s union, one of the first workers to organize at the company’s U.S. warehouses, said on Tuesday it had taken steps to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Founded in 2021, the ALU is a grassroots group of current and former workers that gained national attention two years ago with its victory in a historic union election at the JFK8 plant in Staten Island, New York.
The ALU initially eschewed the major unions and established itself as an independent organization. But the group has been working hard with AmazonA rift has developed between leader Chris Smalls and ALU members as they seek to overturn the 2022 election results. a group of former members sue union last year, accuse it Violating the ALU Constitution and asking a Brooklyn court to force the ALU to hold elections for union officers.
An alliance with the Teamsters, one of the largest unions in the United States, could give the ALU additional leverage to advance negotiations with Amazon. The Teamsters union, founded in 1903, has long worked to organize Amazon warehouse and delivery workers, and in 2021 it created an Amazon unit to support and fund unionization efforts among the company’s workers.
exist Posts on XThe Teamsters said the alliance received unanimous approval from the union’s board of directors on Tuesday. Smalls said in a text message that the affiliation agreement is tentative until ALU and Teamsters union members vote to approve it.
The decision has drawn opposition from the ALU’s Democratic Reform Caucus, which sued the ALU last year. Arthur Schwartz, an attorney for the caucus, said it’s unclear how the ALU would hold a membership vote to approve Teamsters membership because it “doesn’t have an employee roster, let alone a membership roster.”
In March, ALU members voted to elect new union officials. Smalls said he does not plan to run for re-election as ALU president. The election is expected to be held in person outside of JFK8 in July, Schwartz said.
The truck driver declined further comment. An Amazon spokesman also declined to comment.
watch: Amazon’s first U.S. union faces uphill battle after historic victory
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