Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday demanded that Amazon immediately begin good-faith contract negotiations with workers at its Staten Island, New York warehouse after a regional National Labor Relations Board official formally certified the historic union victory at the facility, rejecting the corporation’s attempt to overturn the election.
“It’s no surprise that the NLRB has once again stopped Amazon’s desperate attempts to bust their workers’ union,” Sanders (I-Vt.), the incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, wrote on Twitter. “Enough is enough. Amazon must come to the table and negotiate a fair contract with workers NOW.”
But Amazon, which has refused thus far to begin contract talks for the JFK8 warehouse, said it plans to appeal the NLRB official’s decision, which affirmed a labor board hearing officer’s earlier recommendation to dismiss Amazon’s slew of objections to the 2022 election results.
Chris Smalls, a former JFK8 employee who is now head of the Amazon Labor Union, said in a statement that “Amazon’s workers won fair and square” and “it’s now time for Amazon to quit stalling, obey the law, respect their workers, and sit down at the bargaining table.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, whose compensation package totaled $213 million in 2021, suggested in a November interview that the company is prepared to drag out the fight with the union for as long as possible.
“I think that it’s going to work its way through the NLRB. It’s probably unlikely the NLRB is going to rule against itself, and that has a real chance to end up in federal court,” said Jassy, who came under fire from the labor board last year after he said workers would be “better off without a union.”
Amazon, which has endless resources to fight unionization efforts, has faced numerous complaints from the NLRB for illegally threatening workers and targeting workplace organizers.
In late November, a federal judge issued a nationwide cease-and-desist order against Amazon over the company’s unlawful firing of union leaders.
Derrick Palmer, vice president of the Amazon Labor Union, said the NLRB official’s decision Wednesday marks “a huge moment for the labor movement.”
“We will continue fighting for a better contract for all Amazon workers across the world,” Palmer added.
